I 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
Shelf :.JB"~U S 3 

.V(9 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 




- 

A 



§\t \ mmaplate Conception: 

THE HISTORY, TRIALS, AND TRIUMPHS 
OF THE WORK OP GOD AT LOURDES. 



BY 



y 



The Rev. HILARY MAURICE VIGO, 

Pastor of St. Julia's, Turin, and formerly Professor of 
Philosophy in the Seminary. 



TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN 



UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE 



Franciscan Fathers, Trenton, New Jersey. 



"Oh Lord, thy work, in the midst of the years bring it to life." habac. hi. 1 . 



TRENTON. N. J. 

1878. 




FT 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by the 

Right Rev. Franciscan Fathers, Trenton, N. J. 
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



¥k«L: 



? KB LIBRARY 

©F Congress 

WASHINGTON 

Ibtmatmm ". 



TO MY DEAR CHILDREN, 

The Parishioners of the Church oe St. Julia, V.M. 



Deaely Beloved : 

To you, who for the past ten years, have been the object 
of my thoughts, my affections and solicitudes, I dedicate this work, 
the fruit of my meditations during my journey to the holy Sanctu- 
ary of the Immaculate Virgin Mary at Lourdes, towards the close of 
June, 1876. 

The subjects I propose to treat of in this work, you are already, 
in great measure, acquainted with by reason of the lectures I de- 
livered before you during the month of May. I now present you 
with the subject-matter of these discourses in the more lasting form 
of a book. 

I entreat you, my friends, to read this little work through, and to 
meditate on the lessons it inculcates in order to derive therefrom 
spiritual profit. May you learn from the perusal of its pages to love, 
after God, our most holy Mother, the Immaculate Virgin Mary, 
whose powerful intercession forget not to invoke for yourselves, and 
for me, too. your most affectionate pastor, 

HILARY MAURICE VIGO, 

St. Julia's, Tuein, 

November 27th, 1876, 



To the Reader. 






Having made, about the commencement of last March, a novena 
in honor of the Immaculate Virgin of Lourdes, and having drank 
two drops of the water of the fountain which welled up miraculously 
at the feet of Bernadette, in the grotto of Massabielle, I became the 
recipient of a very siogtilar temporal blessing. I then resolved to 
compile a series of lectures and meditations to be delivered before 
the people during the month of Mary, and during the novena pro- 
ceeding the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the subject-matter 
of which would be a narrative of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin 
at Lourdes. I, therefore, availed myself of all the books I could 
find upon the subject, especially the imperishable work of M. Henry 
Lasserre, entitled "Notre Dame de Lourdes^ from w r hich, without 
his permission — which, no doubt, he would willingly have accorded 
me — I have taken almost the wliole of my book. As I have made 
these extracts on my own responsibility, it is but fair to acknowl- 
edge it. 

Have I, by issuing this work, fulfilled my vow ? I place my con- 
fidence in the goodness and clemency of the Immaculate Virgin 
Mary. I could, perhaps, have written more in accordance with th? 
dignity of the subject, had I given myself to deep study by way of 
preparation, and afterwards corrected my production with a critic's 
judgment. But the desire to promote the honor of the Immaculate 
Virgin impelled me to unite all my powers in order to give the work 
to the people during the novena of the Immaculate Conception. 

Deign, gentle reader, to pardon the defects of my work, and, with 
your fervor make amends for the spiritual coldness and poverty of 
the compiler. 



Translators Pf^eface, 



Several times during the church's history has it pleased God to 
manifest unto the world the power His Most Holy Mother wields at 
the throne of grace. Hence, we find many miracles performed by 
her power, and many graces obtained through her intercession; and 
these manifestations occur most frequently in some favored spot 
which is subsequently known as a Shrine or Sanctuary. 

The latest sanctuary in which, in the incredible ways of God's 
providence, Mary has been pleased to manifest her maternal tender- 
ness is the grotto of Lourdes. So much has been written about it, 
so many pilgrimages have been made to that hallowed spot, so 
many astounding miracles have been wrought there, that the name 
of Lourdes has become a household word in every Catholic family. 

And if Lourdes is already so well fenown, what needs it of further 
notoriety? We answer, the subject is exhaustless. Lourdes will be 
the theme of many a graphic pen for ages, because of its connection 
with Mary, whose power and benignity have been so frequently 
manifested in that holy place. Nor will she cease to show herself a 
mother there. We may confidently expect to see many other in- 
stances of her maternal solicitude recorded. God's power is un- 
bounded, and the well-spring of His graces ceaseless in its activity, 
and He will never refuse to show forth His power, and shower down 
His graces upon those who have got Mary for intercessor. Too much, 
then, cannot be written about Lourdes, the scene of so many heav- 
enly benedictions in the past, and of so much promise in the future. 

Such sentiments as these must have inspired our author to de • 
liver this series of lectures, on the Madonna of Lourdes, before his 
devoted parishioners, and, subsequently, to issue them in book 
form* 

Such sentiments, too, have urged the Franoiscaii Fathers to get 



VI. AUTHOES PKEFACE. 

the work translated into English ; and, in having done so, they feel 
sure they have anticipated the wishes of the faithful subject to their 
charge, as well as of all good Catholics. They feel certain, too, that 
the work is very opportune, just now, in this locality. In the year 1874, 
as they were building their Convent in Chambersburg for the students 
of the order, some pious persons in the vicinity, suggested the idea 
of building a chapel to the Madonna of Lourdes. The Fathers ap- 
preciated the idea, and went to work accordingly. Within one year 
the chapel was completed, and was dedicated on the 25th of April, 
1875, by the Et. Rev. Dr. Corrigan, Bishop of Newark. A beautiful 
statue of the Madonna of Lourdes— a piece of French workmanship, 
was presented to the Fathers to be placed in the niche above the 
high altar. The Fathers having ever since experienced the protection 
of the Madonna of Lourdes, are, therefore, anxious to spread 
devotion to her under that title. 

Regarding the merits or demerits of the translation we will be 
silent, leaving it to others to tlecide. But be they what they may, 
if our work gain the object for which it has been undertaken, we 
shall have been amply rewarded for our trouble. 

In conclusion we earnestly commend its careful and frequent pe- 
rusal. In addition to its being in the original a graphic account of 
the events that have taken place at Lourdes it also serves the pur- 
pose of a book of meditations. May it enkindle in those into whose 
hands it may fall, a lively devotion to the Immaculate Mother of 
God. 

Fbanciscan College, 
Trenton, N. J. 

September 8th, 1877. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 



PART I. 

The History of the Work of God at Lourdes, 



CHAPTER I. 

A sketch of the History and Topography of Lourdes. 

"Happy is that people whose God is the Lord." Psalm cxi,. iii. 

France is separated from Spain by a long and lofty 
range of mountains stretching westward from the Medi- 
terranean to the shores of the Atlantic, and this is 
called the Pyrenean chain. These mountains give a 
name to three French provinces, or departments, as they 
are commonly called, namely, the department of the 
Oriental Pyrenees, whose capital is Perpignan ; the de- 
partment of the Low Pyrenees, whose capital is Pau ; 
and the department of the High Pyrenees, whose capi- 
tal is Tarbes. This last named department is situated 
about midway amidst the mountain chain ; and while its 
second city is Argeles, the third is Lourdes, which is dis- 
tant about twenty kilometres by rail from Tarbes, fifteen 
from Argeles, and thirty-nine from Pan. 

The position of Lourdes is lovely and picturesque. Its 
southern extremity lies at the foot of the first spurs of 
the great mountain range, at the junction of the seven 
valleys, called the valleys of Lavedan, which penetrate 



8 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

the mountains, and contain famous baths; and 
Lourdes is the key to these valleys. On the 
northern side^ it is hemmed in by hills of gentle 
acclivity; and these terminate the plains of Tarbes 
and of Toulouse: hence, it lies on the cross-roads 
that lead to the famous baths. Whether one journeys 
to Bareges, to Saint Sauveur, to Cauterets, to Bagneres- 
de-Bigorre, or from Cauterets, or Pau to Louchou, he 
must always pass through Lourdes. 

Lourdes is of very ancient origin. Founded, prob- 
ably, by the ancient Spaniards, mention is made of it in 
the earliest histories of that country. It was known in 
the days of Charlamagne; and its name has been con- 
stantly recorded in the page of history from the days of 
that warrior king up to the epoch of the great French 
Revolution in 1789. An ancient castle, built like an 
eagle's nest upon a solitary cliff, at the foot of which, 
on the eastern side, the city reposes, adds to its celeb- 
rity. The houses, sufficiently neat, are built, almost 
without design, upon a variegated tract of country, and 
are grouped, as it were, in a disorderly manner along 
the base of the aforesaid cliff. These houses were for- 
merly sufficient to accommodate a population of about 
five thousand, but the apparitions of the Virgin Immac- 
ulate have completely changed the appearance of the 
city, and converted it into an immense inn, by reason of 
the accommodation it had been called upon to afford the 
crowds of pilgrims, who flocked thither from every part 
of the world. 

In order to meet these requirements new houses had 
to be built on different sites, and the old ones remodeled. 
And so the pilgrims can now find lodgings suitable to 
their tastes and means, as well as food and drink of 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 9 

every description, public and private dilligences, and ob- 
jects of piety for sale, particularly along the way leading 
to the holy grotto. In a word, from having been a city 
of modest proportions, Lourdes has, of late, wonderfully 
increased its dimensions, and is now destined to rank, 
and that at no far distant period, among the most flour- 
ishing cities of France. 

The Mons. Bishop of Tarbes, in whose diocese Lour- 
des is situated, in his Homily delivered in the new- 
sanctuary on the 11th of February, 1873, very appro- 
priately said : " Good city of Lourdes; city of Mary. 
The Immaculate Virgin has brought thee beneath the 
folds of her mantle, all temporal and eternal blessings. 
Thou has found here the richness of the earth, and the 
pure dews of heaven. Our Lady of Lourdes is the rich 
treasure of this locality. All thy houses are homes for 
the pilgrims, and the repositories of emblems of devo- 
tion. Tou, my beloved flock, should be very grateful to 
God and to the Virgin Mary." 

In the midst of all this splendor which renders the 
city of Lourdes illustrious, God wishes that the simpli- 
city of its primitive customs should not fade away, and 
decrees to keep, through His Immaculate Mother, 
Christian faith and piety alive in the hearts of the fellow 
citizens of Bernadette. 

I have said that God wishes to keep Christian faith 
and piety alive in the hearts of the inhabitants of Lour- 
des, because, in truth, they are a people of excellent 
character. Simple in manners, sweet of disposition, fer- 
vent in piety, and always engaged in works of a laborious 
character, which preclude all possibility of sinful in- 
dulgence, they are to our great cities a striking example 
of the beneficent influence which the Catholic religion, 



10 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

when practiced in its native simplicity, wields over the 
masses. Their honesty is notorious; the integrity of 
their customs, most singular; their knowledge, gener- 
ally advanced; mutual love reigns supreme amongst 
them; and the support they give each other in time of 
need is particularly remarkable, for it can be seen at 
every step in the numerous male and female associations 
existing in their midst, all dedicated to some special 
Saint whose object is to guard their spiritual, much 
more than their temporal interests. Hence, it happens 
that the parish church is always crowded whenever a 
sermon is being preached, the Christian doctrine ex- 
pounded, or any other holy function performed. And 
particularly noticeable is the deep devotion of the peo- 
ple to the Most Holy Virgin : suffice it to say, that every 
altar in their church is dedicated to her. 

Amid the environs of Lourdes, here steep and wild 
like some site in the virgin forests of America, there 
tranquil and beautiful to look upon as the most lovely, 
verdant meadows, the valley of the Gave, which stretches 
along the western borders of the city, deserves special 
mention. This river, or rather mighty torrent, rises 
amid the Pyrenees, and being swollen along its course 
by many tributaries, flows in a southerly direction as far 
as Lourdes, where its waters foam and dash against the 
rock on which the castle stands, and then taking a rec- 
tangular sweep, hurries on to the city of Pau, where it 
blends with the waters of the Adour, which empties into 
the great ocean. This valley, viewed from the castle, 
presents a magnificent prospect. Before us — that is 
towards the west, is a garland of mountains ; on the left 
mountains also bound our view ; while on the right rises a 
picturesque little hill, along whose flank runs the road 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 11 

to Pan, and now, also, the railroad. The banks of the 
river are a scene of enchantment. All along smiling 
meadows, fringed with rows of alders, ash-trees, and 
poplars, invite our gaze. Here, also, may be seen a 
beautiful little island formed by the river flowing on the 
right, and by a canal on the left. Some eighteen years 
ago this canal worked a mill. The island, which is not 
wide, but is about one kilometre in length, is called the 
island of Chalet, and terminates below towards Pau, 
where the canal reunites with the Gave. 

At the confluence of the canal and the river, a little 
to the left of the latter, rises a steep rock of huge propor- 
tions. It is of a greyish color, and is tapestried with; 
ivy and box, with heather and musk plants ; while from 
its wide fissures bud forth here and there wild brush- 
wood, brambles, wild roses, and hazels. The base of 
the rock slightly resembles an amphitheatre, for its two 
extremites are planted on the ground, and in its centre 
it remains suspended in the form of a circular arch at a 
height of about four metres in its greater altitude, of 
about twelve in its cord formed from the ground, and 
of about as many more in depth. Thus beneath it there 
is, as it were, a grotto or cavern, which from below 
united with the gro.uncl, rises and prolongs itself like a 
pedlar's tent, or half an arch of a' misshapen oven. Above 
this grotto, at the right as one enters, opens a second 
cavity, excavated by the hand of nature to the depth of 
about two metres, shaped like a window or a niche of a 
church, presenting the figure of the letter O, but some- 
what sharper, and communicating with the cavern be- 
neath by an internal aperture, and with a third cavity 
half concealed by bushes, and facing the west, which 
serves to give light to the second niche. This last 



12 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

named niche, the most important for our history, 
has got a wild rose bush growing at its base, which, 
springing from a fissure in the rock, flings out here its 
long branches 

Up to the year 1858 no place within the environs of 
Lourdes was so little known and unfrequented as the 
locality in which this rock stands. Situated on a com- 
mon, it was scarcely ever visited, except by a shepherd, 
or some fisherman w^ho, happening to be near, had been 
overtaken by a storm. The rock was called Massabielle, 
which, in the dialect of the town, means Old Bock, and 
the cavern described above, was called the Grotto, or 
the Grotto of MassabieUe. 

Adorable providence of God ! Admirable wisdom of 
Mary! Even here in this solitary niche, the Most 
August Queen of heaven vouchsafed to manifest herself 
eighteen times. 

And now, devout reader, rest a little, and before go- 
ing further make the following 

MEDITATION. 

I. Like the heavens, the earth, too, announces the 
glory of God, and of His Immaculate Mother, for whom 
the whole world was made, as St. Bernard writes. 
Wherefore, do the lofty Pyrenees and their low lying 
valleys, the rocks and the meadows, the grass and the 
flowers- the mighty rivers and the gentle rivulets, the 
plants that grow wild along the wayside, and those that 
receive the fostering care of the florist invite you, as you 
enter the environs of Lourdes, to honor, especially dur- 
ing the beautiful month of May, her, of whom the 
Scripture says : " She is exalted like a cedar on Lib anus, 
and like a cypress on Mount Zion ; her head is like 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 13 

Carmel on which was shed the glory of Sharon, whose 
foundations are on the holy hills." Will you be deaf to 
so many invitations ? "Will you not res3lve to honor the 
dearest and most beautiful of creatures ? 

II. Consider that the true way of honoring the Im- 
maculate Virgin Mary is to practice our holy religion 
faithfully and from our hearts, like the people of Lour- 
des, by frequenting church, and by being present at the 
sacred functions, especially the sermons, by receiving 
the Sacraments often and with devotion, and by having 
your name enrolled in some one of the many pious con- 
fraternities instituted in her honor, in order thereby to 
conquer human respect, to give good example to your 
neighbors, and strengthen the beneficent influence of 
religion among them. 

III. Consider that as God is not found in the wind, 
or in the earthquake, or in the fire, so neither is Mary. 
(IH Kings, xix. 11). But she is found in the sighing of 
the gentle breeze, amid the solitude of the mountains, 
and in the depths of the lonely valleys — that is to say, 
she is found by those who withdraw from worldly pas- 
times, and meditate upon spiritual truths. Wherefore, 
if you wish to derive any benefit from her apparitions 
and holy inspirations, and to enjoy her beneficence, 
you must resolve to curb your passions, to keep your 
mind recollected, and guard the impulses of your heart 
and imagination. Like God, so too does Mary say of 
the soul : " I will lead her into the wilderness, and I will 
there speak to her heart." (Osee, ii. 14). 

Act of Virtue. — Enrol yourself in the Society of the 
Madonna of Lourdes, and faithfully observe its regula- 
tions. 

Ejaculation. — Help of Christians, pray for us ! 



14 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

CHAPTER II. 

The Hidden Pearl. 

'• Having found one pearl of great price." (Matt. xiii. 46). 

Amongst the poor families of Lourdes there was one 
in the year 1858, consisting of the father, mother, and 
four children. The father, Francis Sonbirous, was a 
miller by profession. In times past he had rented a 
little mill ; but soon he was forced to depart from his 
contract, because in Lourdes that kind of business is 
usually done on credit, and being unable to procure it 
from lack of funds, he soon became poorer than he was 
at first). In hopes of better days he hired a plain little 
house, which he endeavored to maintain bj doing a 
day's work for anyone who might wish to employ him. 
But though poor in this world's goods, not owning even 
a little garden, he was rich in the possession of a good 
wife, whose name was Louisa Casterot, a woman of good 
Christian habits, and most tenderly devoted to the wel- 
fare of her family. 

The two youngest of the children were boys; the 
third, called Mary, was about eleven years old, and the 
eldest about fourteen. The last mentioned child, hav- 
ing been born while the mother was sick, could not be 
reared at home, and was, therefore, sent out to be 
nursed in a virtuous family who dwelt in a neighboring- 
village called Bartres, located higher up amid the Pyr- 
enees. The nurse's pay which amounted to about five 
francs a month, was given sometimes in money, but 
generally in merchandise. 

Meanwhile, the second daughter was born ; and two 
babies to care for would have prevented the mother 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 15 

from doing a day's work in the fields ; wherefore, she 
was necessitated to leave the elder with the nurse even 
after having been weaned. When she had attained that 
age at which she could be useful to her parents, they 
wished to take her home ; but the Bartres family inter- 
posed, saying that they loved the little girl as one of 
their own children, and, therefore, undertook the re- 
sposibility of supporting her gratuitously, and gave her 
the office of shepherdess. She remained at this employ- 
ment until she was fourteen years old, the time at which 
her parents took her home. But let us tarry yet longer, 
and more to the purpose, with this little girl who is the 
principal human personage of our history. 

In baptism the little girl had been called Maria Ber- 
narda, but agreeably to family usage, this name was 
subsequently changed to Bemadette, a diminutive em- 
ployed by the French, and expressive of fondness. 

While Bernadette remained with her adopted parents 
amid the Pyrenees, she passed her days, as we have 
said, in tending the flocks. Dwelling amid the solitary 
hills, far removed from the pestiferous influence of the 
world, and under the protection of God and His angels, 
she amused herself innocently along the mountain slopes, 
building little play-houses with the stones that lay scat- 
tered all around, toying with the grass and the flowers, 
listening to the gentle murmurings of the rivulets, and 
with fondness caressing her little pet lamb. 

" Amongst my lambs," she said, " there is one I love 
above all the rest." 

"And which one is it?" a person asked. 

"It is the little one," she replied — and she loved to 
caress this little lamb, and in playing with it while away 
the hours, 



16 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Dear little girl ! Like the poor lambkin she loved so 
much, she, too, was the weak little one among the girls. 
Although fourteen years old, she would pass for eleven, 
or twelve. Though not sickly, she was still subject to 
asthmatic attacks, which often gave her extreme trouble; 
but she bore her sufferings with patience and tranquil 
resignation. Was it the Grace of God that sustained 
her, or did her endurance spring from natural tempera- 
ment? However it may be, it is certain, that having 
learned from her adoptive mother how to recite the 
Rosary, Bernadette was everywhere and every moment 
engaged in this devotion, whether by way of recom- 
mending herself to God, or through a native yearning 
of her innocent soul. She had learned nothing beside. 
She could neither read nor write ; but she well knew the 
Pater, Ave, Gloria Patri, and Credo, which the French 
always repeat when reciting the Rosary. But though 
she had acquired no book learning, she had learned 
what is more pleasing to God, namely, innocence, sim- 
plicity, and purity of conscience ; virtues which kept 
her soul white and spotless as when washed in the 
waters of Baptism. Up to this, as was natural, she had 
not been admitted to her first Communion ; and in or- 
der to prepare her for it the more easily in the city, her 
parents, notwithstanding their poverty, took her home 
about the end of January, 1858. 

Her mother, finding her in such feeble health, at- 
tended to her more diligently than to the other child- 
ren, as all good mothers do. And so, while all the other 
members of the family went around with feet unpro- 
tected, save by a simple wooden shoe, Bernadette was 
compelled by her mother to wear stockings, and was in 
every other way under her continual surveilance. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 17 

What poverty! What misery was in that family 
which often wanted the common necessaries of life ! 

And still, my dear reader, it was to this poor, weak 
little girl, that Mary Immaculate vouchsafed to appear 
on eighteen occasions. Enter into yourself, and with 
mind and heart raised to God, make the following 

MEDITATION. 

I. What a difference there is between the judgments 
of men and those of God ! Man judges of externals, 
but God penetrates the heart. To accomplish His 
designs, He selects the foolish ones to confound the 
wise, as St. Paul says : '' Quce stulta sunt mundi elegit 
Deus id confundat sapientes" (I. Cor. i. 27). Who, 
more ignorant than this poor little girl, who can neither 
read nor write, and who knows no language except her 
own mountain dialect. Still, we will see how she shall 
confound the wise ones of the world. And even as 
twelve unlettered fishermen made their voices echo 
through the universe, and converted it to Christianity, 
so does this illiterate girl cause the name of Mary to 
resound throughout Christendom. Are you one of 
those who think themselves wise and prudent, and cap- 
able of instructing everyone ? Still worse, are you one 
of those, who, without the necessary fund of knowledge, 
wish to discuss and even define questions of religion, 
and go so far as to instruct the Bishop and the Vicar of 
Christ ? 

II. " God selects the weak ones of the world to confound 
the strong," continues St. Paul. Whom can you find 
weaker than this young, asthmatic girl ? And still, as 
you peruse the pages of this history, you will find her 
too strong to be conquered by threats and persecutions, 



18 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

and too reliant on tlie Divine aid not to come out vic- 
torious in the trials through which, in the inscrutable 
decrees of Providence, she had subsequently to pass. Do 
you flatter yourself to be possessed of fortitude, and do 
you rashly expose yourself to danger, and fall into sin ? 
Have you not seen, a thousand times, what enormous 
sins you have committed against faith, charity, and 
chastity, by reason of your pride and presumption ? 

III. The base things of the toorld, things that are con- 
temptible, and things that are of no account hath God 
chosen that He might bring to nought those who think 
themselves something. Who more ignoble, in the world's 
estimation, than Bernadette ? She is the daughter of 
a poor, laboring miller, who possesses nought of this 
world's goods ; and was engaged in tending the flocks 
on the mountains. What worlding, on seeing her pass 
along clad in a coarse, woolen dress, all patched, with 
wooden shoes on* her feet, and possessed of no natural 
charms to redeem the poorness of her raiment, would 
not have spurned her as a creature of no account ? Still, 
God selects her to bring to nought those who think 
themselves something, because sprung of noble ancestry, 
and possessed of worldly riches. And what do you be- 
lieve yourself to be ? Are you not one of those who de- 
spise the poor ? Do you not think yourself something 
great, because you are finely clothed and blessed with 
affluence ? 

Learn of St. Paul one grand truth, the foundation of 
all sanctity and perfection, namely, " that we should not 
be proud of what we possess, but should refer all the 
glory thereof to God." Learn, too, to attach import- 
ance to the judgment of God, not to the opinions of 
men, 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 19 

Practice. — Seriously examine your conscience as to 
how you have sinned in thought, word, and deed, by 
pride, vain glory, and self-love. 

Ejaculation. — Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, 
and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is 
now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. 



CHAPTEE ill. 
The Dove in tlie Cliffs of the Rock. 

"My dove in the clifts of the rock, in the hollow places of the wall. 
show rae thy face; let thy voice sound in my ears; for thy voice 
is sweet, and thy face comely." Cant, ii, 14. 

The 11th of February, 1858, was a cold, bleak day in 
the vicinity of Lourdes. The sky was thickly curtained 
with clouds, which, undisturbed by the winds, let fall 
from time to time some drops of rain mixed with snow. 
It was the last Thursday of the Carnival, commonly 
called giovedi grasso, a day which foolish worldings usu- 
ally spend in pagan pastimes and sensual enjoyments. 
The parish clock had already struck eleven, and while 
the rich and happy ones all around were preparing 
sumptuous dinners, the poor Soubirous family did not 
have firewood wherewith to cook their scanty meal. 

'• Go along the banks of the Gave, or across the com- 
mon, in search of wood," said the mother to her second 
daughter, Mary. In Lourdes, as in other towns, the 
poor have the right to gather dry wood on the com- 
mons. 

Mary put on her wooden shoes, while Bemadette, the 
elder sister, jealously eyed these preparations. At last, 



20 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

she said to her mother — " Mamma, let me also go. I 
will carry home my little bundle of firewood." 

" No, no ;" quickly answered the mother. " You have 
got a cough, and the journey may make you worse." 

At that moment a neighbor's little girl of about four- 
teen years old, named Jane Abbadie, entered the Sou- 
birous cottage, she, too, being about to start in quest 
of firewood. And now the three little girls pressed the 
mother so urgently that she was forced to yield. Bei - 
nadette had by this time wrapped up her head in a 
kerchief, as is customary among the peasantry of the 
south of France. But this not being, in the mother's 
estimation, a sufficient covering, she said : " Bernadette, 
you had better put on your capulet, too." This capulet 
is a sort of graceful hood used only by those who dwell 
among the Pyrenees. It is made of thick, coarse cloth 
of a white, and betimes, of a red color. When the 
weather is cold, or windy, this hood is put on the head, 
and its lengthy folds are then let fall over the shoulders 
and back which they protect like a mantelette ; if the 
weather be warm, it is folded up in a sort of quadrangu- 
lar shape, and is carried on the head. Bernadette's 
capulet was w T hite. 

The three little girls set out together, and having 
crossed the bridge of the Gave, proceeded to the island 
of Chalet. Mary and Jane being more robust stepped 
out briskly, gathering here and there dry branches with 
which they soon filled their aprons, while the weak and 
delicate Bernadette followed slowly in the rear, without 
having found any. 

Sweet little girl ! Clothed as she was in a black, 
threadbare garment, which had been the recipient of 
many a patch; her face and head wrapped in her white 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 21 

eapidet, which fell in folds over her shoulders, and her 
feet covered with coarse, wooden shoes, she possessed a 
simple, innocent grace that charmed the heart more than 
the eye of the beholder. She was small for her age,* 
and her child-like countenance, though bronzed from 
exposure to the sun, had still never lost its native deli- 
cacy of expression. Her hair, black and fine, scarcely 
revealed itself from beneath her head-dress. Her eye- 
brows were gracefully curved, and her eyes, which were 
of a brown color—a hue, which in her, rendered them 
more charming than if they had been blue, shone with 
a deep, calm beauty, whose limpid brightness no bad 
passion had ever dimmed. Hers was that eye of which 
the Gospel speaks : (i If thy eye be single iky tvhole body 
shall be lightsome." (Matt. vi. 22). Her mouth, wonder- 
fully expressive, betokened within a habitual kindness of 
disposition, and compassion for the sufferings of human- 
ity. Her face, so sweet and intelligent, charmed the be- 
holder : in a word, the tout ensemble of her attractions 
possessed a spirituality that penetrated the inmost re- 
cesses of the soul. One might ask, what was this attrac- 
tiveness so sublime, and powerfully active in winning 
the attention of the beholder, which shone out in this 
ignorant, ragged Utile girl. It was the majesty of in- 
nocence — the grandest and rarest virtue to be met with 
in this world. 

Bernadette tarried behind her sister and the other 
girl, looking for dry wood in vain. Happy girl ! Even 
as Saul, while in search of the missing horses, found the 

* Though she is now about thirty two years old, she is as low of 
stature as a child. "It seems,*' says Count Lafond, "that God has 
thought fit to employ the smallest possible bit of clay in the forma- 
tion of this angelic body," (Lourdes, p. 120). 



22 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

sceptre of Juda ; as the poor and faithful Ruth, while 
looking for the ears of corn dropped by the reapers, 
wins the favor of the rich Boaz, and becomes the grand- 
mother of the royal Prophet ; so does this weak, asth- 
matic little girl, while engaged in looking for wood, 
meet the Mother of life. 

The three little wood-gatherers journeyed on cheerily, 
and at length arrived at the western extremity of 
the island of Chalet, right in front of the Rock of Massa- 
bielle, from which the canal, on this occasion, can 
scarcely be said to have separated them, for it happened 
to be dammed up in order that the mill might undergo 
some necessary repairs. From this point of view were 
to be seen many dry branches which the wind had 
blown off the various shrubs that grew above the rock, 
and which, owing to the dry state of the canal, could 
be easily gathered. Happy at this discovery, Mary and 
Jane, diligent and active as Martha of whom mention is 
made in the Gospel, hurriedly took off their clogs, and 
crossed the canal. 

"The water is very cold," exclaimed both, resuming 
their wooden shoes soon as they had arrived on the op- 
posite bank. They did not wonder at the coldness of the 
water, for it was the month of February, and the rivulet 
itself w r as an outpouring of the neighboring Gave whose 
waters descend from the snow-clad summits of the 
'Pyrenees. 

Bernadette's two companions, with all the simplicity 
of girlhood, engage in edifying anecdote. Bernadette 
severely reprimanded them for having raised their 
dresses so high while crossing the canal, and forced 
them to let them fall lower so as not to offend maiden 
modesty. She also censured a word let slip by Jane, 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 23 

which to her seemed unfit to be uttered by the lips of a 
girl. God, who reveals Himself to the clean of heart, 
willed that this little girl should give a strong proof of 
her delicate purity and courageous charity, at a moment 
when the Queen of Virgins was about to reveal herself 
before her innocent eyes. 

Bernadette, on hearing her companions complain of 
the coldness of the water, was much troubled ; the more 
so because, differently from them, she wore stockings. 
So when they had crossed over she said to them : 

" Throw two or three large stones into the stream so 
that I may pass over with dry feet." But they were 
already occupied in gathering wood ; and Jane, a little 
piqued, perhaps, by the reproof she had just received, 
replied : " Oh ! do as we have done. Cross over hi 
your bare feet." And they paid no further attention to 
her. Bernadette calmly resigned herself to the embar- 
rassment of her situation, and seating herself on one of 
the large stones that lay scattered along the bank, took 
off her shoes and stockings. 

It w r as about noon. Soon all the village bells would 
ring out the Angelus. And lo ! whilst the earth echoes 
the Angelic Salutation in honor of the Virgin, she deigns 
to descend into the midst of her children. 

Whilst Bernadette was stooped down engaged in di- 
vesting herself of her shoes and stockings, she felt a 
strong gust of wind blow around her. In amazement 
she raises her head and looks around believing it to be 
the harbinger of a hurricane ; but, to her great surprise, 
everything was unmoved: even the pliant boughs of the 
poplars, that fringe the Gave, were unconscious of its 
influence. Not knowing w T hat to think she resumes the 



24 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

work of loosing her shoes. But lo ! the same mighty, 
awe-inspiring gust of wind resounds above her, and 
dies amid the rocks of Massabielle. Now, even more 
surprised than before, she arises and turns her eyes 
towards the Grotto. The wild rose-bush that tapestried 
the base of the niche with its long branches, now 
stripped of their leaves, moved slightly to the breeze. But 
soon the niche is lit up with a celestial brightness, in the 
midst of which appears a lady of incomparable beauty. 
She wore a snow-white robe confined by a sky-blue 
girdle, knotted in front, and extending in doubles to her 
feet. On her head w r as a veil of spotless white, which 
fell loosely over her shoulders, and extended the whole 
length of her person. From beneath her snow-white 
robe her feet were visible as they rested on the branches 
of the rose-bush, which yielded not to her gentle pres- 
sure. On each foot bloomed a golden rose. A rosary 
strung in gold, whose stones were pure as dew-drops, 
depended from her hands joined with heavenly 
fervor. She was silent ; but later her words, and 
the miracles it is our office to record, proved that she 
was the Immaculate Virgin, the most august Mother of 
God. 

This wonderful apparition kept steadily looking on 
Bernadetfce, who, in her amazement, had by this time 
mechanically prostrated herself upon her knees. By 
natural instinct, or by a movement of grace, she took 
out her beads, and grasping the Crucifix, endeavored 
to make the sign of the cross. But such was her commo- 
tion that she was unable to raise her arm, which fell 
powerless en her lap. 

The Mother of divine grace, the peerless Virgin, with 
ineffable sweetness, takes hold of the cross of her own 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 25 

beads, and with heavenly unction signs herself with the 
sign of the cross." 

Encouraged by this act of the Apparition, Bernadette 
also makes the sign of the cross. All her fears pass 
away. Dazzled, entranced, doubting her senses, and 
passing her hands across her eyes, which are constantly 
attracted by the celestial vision, she humbly recites her 
Bosary, at the end of which the bright Virgin iiistantly 
disappeared, leaving Bernadette transported out of her- 
self, or, to speak more correctly, like one who has lost 
in an instant the sweetest consolation. How sad the 
rock, the river, and everything around appeared to her 
now! 

Having put her beads in her pocket, she commenced 
to undo her shoes once more ; and, as soon as she had 
touched the water with her naked feet, she shouted with 
surprise, for to her it felt tepid. On hearing her scream, 
Bernadette's sister and her companion ran to her. Hav- 
ing touched her feet they were much surprised to find 
them warm. What did this mean ? Did this warmth 
come from the internal glowing of her pure soul, or was 
it caused by a miracle ? However it happened her com- 
panions were lost in wonder at so strange an event. 
Having by this time tied up their bundles, they entered 
the Grotto to amuse themselves quietly, r l hey had pre- 
viously seen Bernadette on her knees at prayer ; but as 
the children of the mountain districts are accustomed 

* When commencing the Eosary the Italians have a custom of 
holding the beads in the left hand while making the sign of the 
cross. In France the custom is different. There the beads is taken 
hold of about the middle of the third mystery with the left hand 
placed upon the breast, while with the right the cross or medal is 
passed to the forehead, breast, and shoulders. 



$6 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

to pray a little while during work-hours, they wondered 
not that she was similarly engaged. Bather did Berna- 
dette wonder at seeing them so calm and unmoved as if 
nothing extraordinary had happened. 

" Have you seen anything?" asked Bernadette. 

" No," they replied. " Have you ?" 

" If you have seen nothing, then I have nothing to 
tell you." She feared that the very narration of what 
had happened might dim the joy of her heart. But her 
companions were not slow to observe along the way 
home that her mind was agitated ; and they stormed 
her with a thousand questions, which she evaded. How- 
ever, she related all to her sister privately, enjoining on 
her the strictest silence. But Mary had scarcely entered 
the house till she told her mother every tittle. 

" You are silly children," said the mother. And turn- 
ing to Bernadette, she asked her " what kind of a foolish 
story it was she had just heard from her sister?" 
The little girl related her version of the event, but the 
mother was incredulous. "You have been deceived, 
my child. You believed you saw something, but you 
saw nothing. It is all childish fancy." But Bernadette 
insisted on the truth of her narration. 

"It may possibly be an evil spirit," concluded the 
mother. "And I forbid you to return to the Grotto." 

But the mother's fears increased at evening ; for when 
she and her family had been -assembled around the com- 
mon hearth to recite, as was their custom, the night 
prayers, Bernadette suddenly stopped short in the reci- 
tation of the Ave Maria, for her voice w T as choked with 
sighs. The mother rises in alarm, gets the candle, and 
places it near the face of her child. The girl's countenance 
wore a singular expression, while from her open eyes had 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 27 

dropped two tears, which were now resting on her cheeks. 
Doubtless, this commotion was produced in her by the 
recitation of the Ave Maria, which a few hours previ- 
ously she had recited in the Grotto before the heavenly 
Apparition, 

Thus terminated the 11th of Febuary, 1858, a day so 
important for Bernadette and for the Catholic world. 

And now, dear reader, pause, and note in the first 
place, that mighty gust of wind that spent its force 
amid the rocks of Massabielle A wind like this was 
felt when the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles 
on the day of Pentecost, and took possession of their 
hearts and souls. Was it not the Spirit of God that 
came to take possession of the rock of Massabielle ? 
Whatever it was it is certain that when one stands in 
front of that rock, he feels, even to-day, a certain charm, 
a sweetness that inebriates, a sentiment that inspires 
respect and devotion, a fervor which, like a sweet unction, 
moves and invites him to indulge in calm, delicious 
tears. Who can doubt that it was the Spirit of God 
who descended in that mighty wind that had caused 
Bernadette so much amazement? 

Note secondly, and in a special manner, dear reader, 
the sign of the cross which the Holy Virgin made with 
the Crucifix attached to her beads, thereby inviting the 
little girl to do likewise. It was afterwards noticed dur- 
ing the other apparitions which occurred in the same 
place, that Bernadette always made the sign of the 
cross ; and this she did with such heavenly unction and 
fervor as to ravish with delight the hearts of the fortu- 
nate spectators. A certain priest, badly informed, and 
consequently incredulous regarding the events reported 
of the Grotto, asked a distinguished lawyer of Lourdes, 



28 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

at whose faith in the apparitions he wondered much, 
" why he believed them?" 

" I believe them," replied the lawyer, " because I have 
seen them. I have seen Bernadette make the sign of 
the cross on her person. It is only in heaven that the 
sign of the cross is so made." 

Therefore, dear reader, make the following 

MEDITATION. 

I. Consider the 'persons who make the sign of the cross. 
The Virgin Mary, during the first apparition, makes no 
demonstration except the sign of the cross. It would 
seem that she had come down from heaven for the sole 
purpose of giving us this lesson. The Catholic Church 
makes use of the sign of the cross every moment in the 
Mass, in the administration of the Sacraments, and in 
her other sacred functions. The Saints made it a thou- 
sand times during the day. The Sovereign Pontiffs 
have granted great indulgences to those who make it 
with devotion. Of what vast importance, therefore, 
must it not be ? How much importance do you usually 
attach to it? 

II. Consider the mysteries that are wrapped up in 
the sign of the cross. By saying in the name, and not in 
the names, we proclaim the unity of God. By saying of 
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, we an- 
nounce the Trinity of Divine Persons. Finally, by the 
sign of the cross, that instrument on which Jesus Christ 
died to redeem us, we profess our faith in the Incarna- 
tion of the Son of God, and the Redemption of the 
human family. These are the three principal mysteries 
of Catholic faith. They are the most necessary, for 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 29 

without knowing them, no one, who has come to the use 
of reason can be saved. * * * Do you reflect on these 
mysteries when you make the sign of the cross ? Oh ! did 
you, even once seriously reflect on them, with what 
immense advantage to yourself would you make that 
saving sign ! 

III. The utility and efficacy of the sign of the cross. By 
it is revived faith, which in you is so weak, and almost 
dead, on account of your dissipations, and the im- 
pressions made on you by the bad example of the 
world. By it those temptations that assail you on every 
side, and to which, alas ! you too often yield, to the great 
detriment of your faith, purity, humility, and charity, 
are put to flight. By it, too, many good things both for 
the soul and body, are obtained from God. By the 
sign of the cross the Emperor Constantine conquered his 
enemies, and converted them to Christianity. By it 
St. Benedict shivered to pieces the poisoned cup pre- 
sented to him to drink, and thus saved his life. By it 
St. Margaret, V.M., put to flight the devil who appeared 
to her in human shape in order to shake her virtue. By 
it the Martyrs extinguished the flames, or were enabled 
to endure their torments heroically. By it the Thau- 
maturgi worked miracles. * * * Do you believe in 
the power of the cross ? Do you think over it in your 
heart? 

Ah ! resolve to make the sign of the cross— but in doing 
so, endeavor to imitate the Holy Virgin and Bernadette, 
every morning when you arise from bed, every evening 
before retiring to repose, before and after meals, while 
reciting your prayers, and whenever temptation assails 
you. 

Practice.— Make this day the sign of the cross twelve 



30 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

times in memory of the twelve stars that crown the Im- 
maculate Virgin in heaven. 

Ejaculation.— Fv me cruce inebriarl O Lady of 
Lourdes ! obtain for me grace to love the cross. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Exorcism, or Second Apparition. 

"Be of good heart: it is I, fear ye not." Matt. xiy. 27. 

" You must not believe every spirit," writes the Apos- 
tle and Evangelist, St. John, "but must try the spirits if 
they be of God." (John I. iv. 1). Such has ever been 
the practice of the Catholic Church when examining in- 
to extraordinary apparitions. We must not instantly 
believe that the apparition is supernatural, for it might 
possibly be an illusion of the senses. We must not 
refer it right away to God, for it might proceed from 
the cunning of the devil, who is ever ready to deceive 
us as he did our first parents of old in the garden of 
Paradise. The Catholic Church is, therefore, very care- 
ful regarding apparitions, and subjects them to a criterium 
by means of .which she can ascertain with certainty 
whether they be the work of God, or of evil spirits ; and 
this criterium these little girls employed in their own 
simple way, in order to investigate the first apparition 
at Lourdes. 

Having been forbidden by her mother to return to 
the Grotto, Bernadette felt very much discomposed. 
The beautiful Lady had so enamored her by the first 
apparition that the innocent little girl could think of 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 31 

nothing beside. She spoke of the vision continually, on 
Friday and Saturday, the 12th and 13th of February, 
to her sister Mary, to Jane, and other girls of the 
same age. And on Sunday, the 14th, the last day of the 
Carnival, returning home from Mass, she entreated her 
companions to assist her in obtaining her mother's per- 
mission to pay another visit to the rocks of Massabielle. 
Curiosity worked upon their little brains, but not, 
however, to the exclusion of prudence. 

" May not the apparition be the effect of witch-craft ? 
May it not be some evil spirit ?" said some of the girls 
with no little fear. 

" Whatever it be," said one, " we must sprinkle it 
with holy water ; and we can rest assured if it be the 
devil he will take to flight." 

" Address it thus," burst forth another : " If you 
come from God, approach us, but if from the devil, de- 
part." 

Surely this w r as the very formula of exorcism used by 
the Church ; and in this instance these little theologians 
of Lourdes, having learned their catechism, and having 
been well instructed by tlieir pastor, reasoned with a 
prudence and exactness worthy of a Doctor of the Sor- 
bon. 

Bernadette smiled, thereby making it apparent to her 
companions that she, at least, did not believe she had 
seen an evil spirit, for never before had she seen a coun- 
tenance so wonderfully benign. Nevertheless, a slight 
apprehension had just begun to influence her, too ; and 
she decided in accordance with the counsel of her young 
friends, to bring holy water and sprinkle the appari- 
tion. 

But the difficulty was to obtain permission from Ber- 



32 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

nadette's mother. Accordingly after dinner all the 
girls went in a body to the house to make a formal as- 
sault upon her. At first she remained firm in refusing, 
alleging as a motive that the Gave river flowed quite 
near the rocks, that it was dangerous for them to go, 
that the hour of Vespers was drawing nigh, and that 
they should not expose themselves to the risk of getting 
lost ; finally, that they were very silly little girls. Be- 
sist the urgings and entreaties of such a crowd of little 
pleaders, indeed ! They all promised to be extremely 
prudent and cautious, and to make great haste in order 
to be back in time for Vespers ; and mother Soubirous 
was forced to yield. 

Happy as if enjoying an Easter festival, the girls di- 
rected their steps to the parish church. There they 
prayed awhile ; and then one, who had brought a bottle 
with her, went to fill it at the holy water font. Arrayed 
in this spiritual armor, all proceeded towards the rocks 
of Massabielle. Other girls joined them on the way, 
and the little troop soon increased so considerably as to 
attract the attention of the passers by. Their great 
courage and quick decided gait were also noticed. 

Having arrived at the Grotto, they immediately scru- 
tinized the niche and every part of the rock ; but every- 
thing looked cold and unattractive as usual. There was 
no apparition to be seen. 

" Let us pray," said Bernadette. " Let us recite the 
Bosary." And the girls all fell upon their knees, and 
commenced, each for herself, that devotional exercise 
so much loved by heaven's Queen. 

In a moment Bernadette's face becomes trarsfigured ; 
extraordinary emotion is depicted there. Her eyes 
growing more and more briliant, seem to glow with 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. S3 

heavenly light. Standing on the rock, in that very same 
niche, and clothed as before, the wonderful apparition 
revealed herself to her gaze. " There she is ! there she 
is !" hurriedly exclaimed Bernadette. " Look at her ; 
see how she smiles ; she is now approaching me, and 
wishes to give me her hand." 

But alas ! the vision of Bernadette's companions had 
not been divested of that carnal veil which shuts out from 
view glorified bodies. They saw nothing ; but one of them 
advanced, and placed the bottle of holy water in Ber- 
nadette's hand, reminding her to sprinkle the Appari- 
tion. Bernadette arose, and with quick and repeated 
sprinklings soon bedewed the feet and person of the 
wonderful Lady, and in a loud voice addressed her in 
these words : "If you come from God, approach." 
"Whereupon the Lady bowed frequently, and advanced 
as far as the edge of the niche, smiling at Bernadette's 
precaution, her arms of war, and at the sacred name 
of God, her face grew still more luminous. 

" If you come from God, approach," repeated Berna- 
dette ; and she wished to add : " But if you come from 
the devil, retire ;" but seeing the apparition so resplen- 
dent with heavenly light and beneficence, her heart 
failed her. Those words which had been dictated to her, 
appeared monstrous in presence of that incomparable 
being, and fled from her thoughts before they could be 
uttered by her lips. 

" You see her well," she added, addressing her com- 
panions. " At the name of God she raised her beauti- 
ful eyes to heaven. She is now looking and smiling at 
us. Look ! the wind moves her girdle. * * * Oh ! how 
beautiful she is !" 

Bernadette knelt again, and continued her Kosary, 



34 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

which appeared to please the Lady much, for she, too, 
held her beads in her hands and passed its decades be- 
tween her fingers. The Bosary being finished, the Lady 
blessed herself with the cross attached to the beads, 
and smiling benignly, disappeared. 

Then Bernadette arose, as also did her companions: 
and all proceeded homeward — Bernadette being the 
central figure of the affectionate little group. They 
had assisted at her transfiguration. They doubted 
not that she had seen some supernatural being; 
but in its present state, human nature fears the 
supernatural. Hence it is that the Hebrews said to 
Moses : " Speak thou to us instead of the Lord, lest 
we die." And the little girls of Lourdes said to Berna- 
dette : " We are afraid. We shall not go back there 
again, for what you have seen may have come to injure 
us." And they walked on in a compact body, attract- 
ing the attention of many along the way who put them 
a number of questions. Soon the news spread, and be- 
came the subject of general conversation, especially 
after Vespers, at which, according to promise, the girls 
were in time to assist. 

And now, dear reader, rest a little, and make the fol- 
lowing 

MEDITATION, 

I. Consider the antiquity and the use of holy water in 
the Church. Like other practices, the blessing of water 
dates back to the days of the Apostles, and is akin to 
the custom the primitive Christians had of washing the 
hands and face with blessed water before entering 
church. From those early times it has been customary 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. -Jfi 

to keep blessed water at the entrance of the church. 
The priest sprinkles the faithful every Sunday with 
holy water immediately before the Parochial Mass. 
Holy water is used in the benediction of the sacred vest- 
ments, crucifixes, images, rosaries, medals ; in the dedi- 
cation of churches, and the blessing of cemeteries. The 
sick are sprinkled with holy water before receiving the 
last sacraments — in a word, whatever benediction is im- 
parted, holy water is used during the ceremony ; and 
the Church advises her children to keep it always in 
their houses, and to bless themselves with it frequently. 
* ' * _ * Do you make use of it ? Are you not one of 
those light or impious creatures, who mock this pious 
custom, and blaspheme what they are ignorant of ? 

II. Consider the signification of holy water, and the 
motive for which it is used. Man has fallen from his 
primitive perfection. The devil, by conquering him, 
has also conquered all earthly creatures, which are, 
therefore, permeated by his malignant influence. Jesus, 
by his cross, has resuscitated and sanctified all things. 
Instaurare omnia in Christo. ( Ephes. 1. 10). And there- 
fore, has He given power to His Church to bless water 
and other creatures ; and this she does with exorcisms 
and the sign of the cross, by means of which she expels, 
in the name of her Divine Spouse, the devil from those 
jcreatures, and prays God to sanctify them, in order that 
they may serve man, and draw down upon him divine 
blessings. These exorcisms, accompanied by the sign 
of the cross, are pronounced over the water and the salt 
while being blessed and commingled by the priest, who 
wears his stole as a symbol of the authority the Church 
has received from Jesus Christ. * * * Do you believe 
all this ? If you do not, how call yourself a Catholic ? 



36 ' IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

How do you recognise the Church, which is the pillar 
and ground of truth, to be your infallible teacher ? 

III. Consider the effects produced by holy water. 
First, it expels the devil and his pernicious influence 
from wherever it is sprinkled ; secondly, it brings down 
God's favors upon us, upon our houses, and upon all we 
possess ; thirdly, it enlivens our faith, and cancels venial 
sin. Do you believe in these effects ? The most sub- 
lime geniuses, and the most devout men, who have ever 
adorned the world by the brilliancy of their intellects, 
or edified it by the sanctity of their lives, have set you 
the example of belief. Origen, Tertullian, St. Augus- 
tine, St, John Chrisostom, St. Ephifanius, St. Jerome, 
St. Gregory, St. Thomas, etc., have all believed these 
things. Are you wiser, or more virtuous than they ? 

Resolve to hold blessed water in high estimation. Dip 
your finger in it as you enter the church, saying at the 
same time : " Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and 
cleanse me from my sin." (Psalm L.) Keep it near your 
bed, and sprinkle yourself with it before retiring to rest. 
Sign your forehead with it every morning and evening, 
and in times of sickness, temptation, danger, and doubt. 

Practice. — Sign yourself to-day with holy water five 
times in memory of the five wounds of the Savior, which 
have conquered the devil ; also in memory of the five 
letters, M A E I A, which form the dear name of the 
Immaculate Virgin. 

Ejaculation. — Nos cum prole pia beneclicat Virgo Maria. 
May the Virgin Mary, with her holy Offspring, bless us. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 37 

CHAPTER V. 

Mary Invites as to Lourdes, or the Third Apparition. 

'Come children, hearken to me: I will teach you the fear of tho 
Lord." Psalm xxxin, VI. 

The news of the two apparitions at the Grotto of 
Massabielle, had spread during the last days of the Car- 
nival, throughout the city of Lourdes, and many went to 
Bernadette's house to ask her questions. She answered 
their thousand interrogations with the utmost precision. 
It was possible she might have been deceived, as even 
her parents believed ; but it was enough to see her ? and 
hear her speak, to be certain of her own implicit belief 
in the reality of the apparitions. Her perfect simplicity, 
her youthful innocence, the irresistable force of her 
words — all formed, one knew not how, an ensemble that 
gave wonderful weight to her narration, and claimed 
for it the belief of her hearers. Doubtless, all admitted 
that something wonderful had taken place amid the 
rocks of Massabielle. 

But, supposing the apparition to be a reality, the 
question was to ascertain what it was. Faith and super- 
stition contended for superiority in the minds of the 
people. Many were of the opinion that the apparition, 
in consequence of its having been clothed in white, was 
a soul from purgatory asking for prayers for its repose : 
others, that it was a blessed soul — nay, the soul of a 
certain person (and they particularized one) who died 
a short time before in the odor of sanctity, and who 
now appeared in its glory to impart advice. Others pro- 
nounced opinions perfectly superstitious. 

Amongst those who had come to interrogate Berna- 
dette on Ash-Wednesday, the 17th of February, were a 



38 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

young widow named Madam Millet, and Antoinette 
Peyret, a daughter of Mary of the Congregation of 
Lourdos. These, having heard the little girl speak of 
the two first apparitions, were convinced that it was a 
soul from purgatory supplicating the suffrages of the 
faithful. 

" Ask the Lady," said they to Bernadette, " who she 
is, and what she wants — nay, in case you may not clearly 
understand her, ask her to give you her demands in 
writing." They then asked the mother, Madam Soubi- 
rous, to permit her to return to the Grotto in their com- 
pany, and she consented. 

On the following morning, the 18th of February and 
the first Thursday of Lent, Madam Millet, Antoinette 
Peyret, and Bernadette, heard the 5^ o'clock Mass in 
the parish church, and at six o'clock set out for the 
Grotto. 

But the repairs of the mill having been finished, the 
water was allowed to course through the canal, thus 
rendering it impossible for them to cross it. Where- 
fore, in place of going to the rock by way of the island 
of Chalet, they were obliged to ascend a steep acclivity 
by a way difficult of passage, and then descend on the 
other side by a series of dangerous steps. In view of 
these difficulties Bernadette's companions, although 
young, almost lost courage ; but not so she, who, as if 
troubled no more by the asthma, or as if borne piong 
by an unseen power, stepped out at such a rapid gait 
that with difficulty they could follow her. Having gained 
the summit, her companions were out of breath, and 
perspiring freely ; but Bernadette, on the contrary, felt 
not inconvenienced in the least, but was perfectly at 
ease. She then descended the rock with the same ease, 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 39 

although this was her first time to attempt such a fete. 
On the summit of this almost perpendicular cliff, along 
whose slopes were scattered in profusion pieces of 
broken rocks that would give way to ordinary pressure 
overlooking the deep abyss, she walked with as sure 
and firm steps as if she had been on the most level foot- 
way. Madam Millet and Antoinette could not keep up 
with her along this trackless route. They descended very 
slowly, using all the precaution necessary in such dan- 
gerous circumstances. 

Bernadette, as we may see, arrived at the Grotto some 
time before her companions. She knelt down and com- 
menced her Rosary, keeping her eyes fixed on the niche. 
Suddenly she screamed. The well-known light was 
shining in the depths of the cavity. A voice calls her. 
The beautiful Lady, with face resplendent as the sun, 
appears, and bows to her, and beckons her to approach. 
At this very moment the other two arrive, and behold 
Bernadette's face all transfigured in ecstacy. Still, 
Bernadettte alone, sees and hears the apparition. 

Addressing them she says : " the Lady is here, and 
beckons me to approach her." 

" Ask her if she has any objection for us to remain 
with you, because if she^has, we will go away." 

Bernadette looked at the Lady, listened for a moment, 
and turning to them said : " Do you also remain." Then 
they knelt beside the little girl, and lit the candle they 
had brought with them. " It was the first time," ob- 
serves M. Lasserre, "that such a light, betokening the 
inauguration of a sanctuary, had shone there." 

Meanwhile, Bernadette, in ecstatic rapture, contem- 
plates the beauty of her, who is called all beautiful and 
tvitliout stain. 



40 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

" Since she calls you, and beckons you to approach 
her, do so," said her two companions " Ask her who 
she is, and why she comes here ?" If she is a soul from 
purgatory in need of prayers, or of a Mass? Entreat 
her to write her desires on this sheet of paper. * * * 
We are ready to comply with her wishes, and to do 
everything necessary for her repose." 

Bernadette took the paper, pen, and ink offered her, 
and advanced towards the Apparition, which encouraged 
her with sweet, maternal smiles. But still, at every 
step she made forward, the Lady retired little by little 
into the interior of the niche. Bernadette lost sight of 
her for an instant, but descended beneath the arch of 
the Grotto. There, always above her, but now much 
nearer, she sees the Lady through the internal aperture 
of the niche. She stood on tip-toe, and stretching out 
her arms to their full length, endeavored to hand the Lady 
the writing utensils. The two companions, anxious to 
know what the Vision should say, advanced also. But 
Bernadette, without turning her head around, and as if 
in obedience to a signal from the Lady, motioned them 
with her hand not to advance further. They retired in 
confusion. 

" My Lady," then spoke the child, " if you have any- 
thing to tell me, be so kind as to write on this paper 
who you are and what you desire. 

The Lady smiled at this ingenuous request, and said : 
"AVhat I have to tell you, I have no need to write. 
Only do me the favor to come here for fifteen days." * 

" By these words," said the Mons. Bishop of Poitiers in his cele- 
brated Hoinily delivered on the Banks of the Gave on the 3d of July, 
1876, " the Virgin Mary made it evident that she was of the family of 
Him, who, with great reverence, holds intercourse with His most 
lowly creatures." Cam magna, reverentia disponls nos. Sap. xn. 15 . 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 41 

"I promise you to do so," replied Bernadette. 

The Lady smiled again, and signifying her satisfac- 
tion, answered : " And I promise to make you happy, 
not indeed in this world, but in the next." 

Bernadette, without losing sight of the Apparition, 
turned towards her companions, and noticed that the 
Lady, whom she closely observed, kept for a considerable 
time, looking with great benevolence, at Antoinette Pey- 
ret, who was the daughter of Mary of the Congregation 
of Lourdes, and therefore unmarried. 

" The Lady is looking at you, now," said Bernadette 
to her virgin companion. 

She was considerably moved by the intelligence ; the 
memory of which was ever after indellibly stamped upon 
her soul. Meanwhile Bernadette related to her com- 
panions all the Lady had said to her, as well as the 
promise she herself had made. 

" Ask the Lady now if she would feel displeased for 
us to accompany you each day for the fortnight." 

Bernadette looked at the Apparition, which replied : 
" They can come with you, they and others beside. I 
wish to see a great number assemble here." Having 
spoken thus, the Lady disappeared ; and the light that 
had shone around her, faded away, as it did on the two 
first occasions. 

Then Bernadette related how, when the apparition 
commences, she sees the light first, and then the Lady ; 
but when it terminates, the Lady disappears first, and 
then the aureola fades away. 

Beflect, dear reader ; and as you see how, even in 
Lourdes, superstition was mixed with the true Religion, 
seriously make the following 



42 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

MEDITATION. 

I. Consider that God demands of you the true Be- 
ligion— that is to say, He claims from you that internal 
and external worship which is due Him as Lord of all 
things ; and therefore, He calls upon you to adore Him, 
to offer Him all your prayers and devotions, to fulfill 
your vows, to swear with the necessary conditions, and 
to offer Him sacrifice, especially by assisting piously at 
the Holy Mass. Examine yourself dilligently upon 
these duties you owe to God- *, . * * Do you fulfill them ? 
God is your creator and preserver. He has given you 
all the good things you possess, and is ever ready to 
give you more. Justice and gratitude demand of you 
to give Him the whole homage of your heart. Are you 
not of the number of those who think that in order to 
be saved, it is sufficient not to be guilty of robbery, mur- 
der, and the like ? 

II. God abhors superstition, which, according to Cicero, 
is a vice derived from the Pagans who prayed their 
false divinities for the welfare of their children, and is, 
therefore, an outrage on true religion, for by it we either 
offer Him a distorted worship, or set up an idol in His 
place. Examine therefore whether you be not one of 
those who offer to God a false, base, indecent, or a 
superfluous worship, or who love creatures more than 
Him. Examine yourself also as to whether you have 
consulted fortune-tellers, astrologers, and other such 
diviners, or played at cards in order to ascertain the 
future ; if you have given credit to dreams, and vainly 
observed superstitious practices, for example, by being 
afraid of the number 13, of upsetting the salt-cellar at 
table, of Friday, <fcc. How many Christians dishonor. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 4: ) 

m this way, the true religion, which is so beautiful and 
rational ! Are you one of these ? 

III. Consider how curiosity in things appertaining 
to religion, displeases God. The two women, who 
through curiosity had accompanied Bernadette to the 
Grotto, were debarred the privilege of seeing the ap- 
parition. Are not you one of those who consult dream- 
interpreters in time of sickness, or participate, in any 
way, in the practices of spiritism, which has been con- 
demned by the Church ? How many there are who 
will not believe truths of faith, and yet do not hesitate 
to place implicit credence in wretched creatures, or even 
in the devil ! Are you of this number ? 

Resolve to become well instructed in the practices of 
the Catholic Religion, by reading good books, and by 
attending the instructions of your pastor. Ignorance 
of religion is one of those evils which, in our days, work 
so much ruin among souls. Study, therefore, your 
religion, which is so beautiful. 

Practice. — Read for a quarter of an hour, some good 
book treating on religion — if it were only the little cate- 
chism, and promise to be punctual in attending the in- 
structions of your pastor. 

Ejaculation. — Solve vhicla reis, profer lumen Coecis. 
O Mary Immaculate ! loose for sinners the chains that 
bind them, and illumine the blind that they may see the 
light of the Catholic religion. 



44 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Fourth, Fifth ami Sixth Apparitions, or the True 

Mother. 

Do not consider me that I am brown * * * the sons of my mother 
have fought against me. Cant. Cant. 1. 5. 

The fourth, and fifth apparitions took place on Thurs- 
day and Friday, the 19th and 20th of February, in the 
usual way, but nothing particular happened on these 
occasions. Let us, therefore, turn our attention to the 
sixth, which occurred on the first Sunday of Lent, the 
21st of February. 

On the preceding Thursday, as soon as she had 
reached home, Bernadette told her parents of the in- 
vitation given her by the Lady to return to the Grotto 
once a day for a fortnight, and of her own promise to 
comply. On the other hand, Madam Millet and Anto- 
niette Peyret told every one about the little girl's trans- 
figuration, as well as of the invitation of the Lady for 
great numbers to go to the rocks of Massabielle. That 
Thursday was a market day at Lourdes ; hence, a great 
number had gathered there. We can, therefore, easily 
understand how on the evening of that day, the news 
of the apparitions spread through the mountains, val- 
leys, and the surrounding towns. On the following 
morning about a hundred persons had already as- 
sembled at the Grotto by the time Bernadette arrived- 
On Saturday the crowd numbered from four to five hun- 
dred, and on Sunday morning over a thousand persons 
were at the Grotto before sun-rise. 

About six o'clock Bernadette arrived, accompanied 
by one of her companions, who, having witnessed her 
ecstacies, now believed in. the reality of the apparitions. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 4o 

Passing through the midst of the multitude, who res 
pectfully made a passage for her, without too much self- 
reliance, and yet without embarrassment, nay, seeming 
not to notice the universal attention of which she was 
the object, she hurried on to prostrate herself at the 
foot of the niche. In one hand she held her rosary, 
and in the other, a candle, which had certainly been 
given her as a present. A physician, named Dr. 
Dozous, took his place beside her. Many questions had 
been raised in the city regarding Bernadette's transfi- 
gurations. Some said the girl was afflicted with cata- 
lepsy — some that she was suffering from hallucination of 
her intellect — some that she was the victim of other 
disease. The Doctor wished to ascertain the truth, and 
therefore, set about studying the fact with attention. 

Only a few moments had passed ere Bernadette was 
on her knees ; and lo ! soon her face beams with ra- 
dience and surpassing splendor. Still it was not the 
blood that had rushed to her face, for it was slightly 
pale. Every look of hers seemed to soar aloft into a 
superior realm, and enter as it were, into a region of 
glory where her features were lit up with a joy and con- 
solation that this world knows not of. Her lips, half 
apart, wore an expression of admiration, and seemed to 
breathe of heaven. Her eyes fixed and happy, were 
gazing on some invisible beauty, which no other could 
see, but whose presence every one felt, for all, so to speak, 
were conscious of its proximity because they saw its re- 
flection in the illuminated countenance of the child. 
This poor little peasant girl, so uncouth in her habits, 
seemed now no longer a denizen of earth. She was an 
angel of innocence who had quitted this world for a 
moment, and had fallen down in adoration while con- 



46 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

templating the glories of paradise whose portals had 
been just thrown open to her eyes. All who have seen 
Bernadette in ecstacy, speak of her as a sublime creature 
whose like cannot be found on earth ; and their memor- 
ies are as fresh regarding her to-day, as they were when 
the wonderful events recorded took place eighteen 
years ago. 

And yet, how strange to relate ! while her attention 
was entirely absorbed in the contemplation of the Holy 
Virgin, she was still, in part, conscious of what w^as 
taking place around. Once her candle happened to get 
extinguished, and she reached out her hand to the per- 
son next her in order to have it lighted. Some one hav- 
ing made an effort to touch the rose-bush with a stick, she 
immediately made a sign to the person to desist, her 
face wearing an expression of fear. 

She was afraid, as she afterwards candidly said, that 
if the Lady were touched, she might receive a hurt. 

All this happened before the eyes of Dr. Dozous, 
who studied with the utmost care, all Bernadette's 
movements ; and here is what he writes about the oc- 
currence in his book entitled La Grotte de Lourdes, 
safontaine et ses guerisons : " I wished to know at the 
time the state of the circulation of her blood, and of 
her respiration. I took hold of her arm, and placed 
my finger upon the radial artery. Her pulse was 
tranquil and regular, and her respiration, easy. Nothing 
indicated in the girl over-nervous excitement, which 
would have reacted in a particular manner upon her 
whole organism." 

As soon as her arm was set free, she advanced a little 
on her knees under the vault of the Grotto, because 
the Apparition had retired back into the niche, and 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 47 

Bernadette could not see it except through the inte- 
rior opening. There, the Lady, elevating her eyes for 
a moment above the little girl's head, seemed to direct 
their gaze far out over the prospect, and then fixed it 
upon her anew— but there was sadness in that look. 

* What is the matter, Lady, that you are so sad?" 
said the little girl. " What do you wish to be done ?" 

"I wish," replied the Lady, "that prayers be offered 
up for poor sinners, and for the world so much agitated." 

Perceiving the grief of her Lady, suddenly Berna- 
dette's heart was transfixed with anguish. A melan- 
choly beyond the powers of description, began its 
gloomy reign upon her countenance, and from her open 
eyes two big tears had dropped upon her cheeks, and rest- 
ed there. But soon the Lady laid aside her expression 
of sadness, and assuming once again her radiant smiles 
and sweet benignity, disappeared. And Bernadette's 
face also soon resumed its wonted calm, and then com- 
menced to descend, as it were, from the bright regions 
of the sun to the sombre atmosphere of earth ; and her 
rustic habits were once more visible, and she looked a 
mere humble shepherdess, a poor little peasant girl, hav- 
ing no characteristic to distinguish her from the ordinary 
country girls around. Dr. Dozous and the whole crowd 
gathered around her in an instant, to whom she gave 
with simplicity and precision, a full account of what had 
happened. 

My dear reader, have you reflected on the words of 
Holy Scripture, with which, by way of epigraph, I have 
headed this chapter ? They are applicable to the Holy 
Virgin, who therefore says: " Wonder not if you see me 
brown. It is not my natural color, but has been super- 
induced by the sun of grief, because the children of my 



48 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

mother have warred against me." — Cant. Cant. 1, 5. 
That is to say, wonder not if you see me sad and trans- 
fixed with a sword of grief. In heaven I am happy ; but 
all that you see is the effect of the pain I feel at the sins 
committed by the very sons of my mother, Eve — that is 
by my own brothers, who, by violating the Command- 
ments of God and of the Church, wage war against God 
and against me. 

From your heart, then, make the following 

MEDITATION. 

I. Consider how much the Most Holy Virgin suffers 
for our sins. Sin, which, in order to be expiated, de- 
manded the death of her Divine Son, Jesus, was also, 
while she was on earth, the cause of her dolors — the in- 
tensity of whose pain it is beyond the power of man to 
describe, or to comprehend. Sin, while it renews the 
crucifixion of Jesus Christ, as St. Paul says, (Heb. vi. 6j 
reproduces also, in all their bitterness, the dolors of 
the Virgin Mary. It is true she is now in heaven, and 
consequently beyond the reach of sufferings, but this 
does not free sinners from the awful responsibility of 
renewing, as far as in them lies, all her anguish. How 
wicked is the sinner's heart ! Why does he not reflect 
on this ? Why does he not think over it in his heart ? 
O, suffering Mother ! You, O sinner ! heap crime upon 
crime, and she is transfixed with a sword of grief. * * * 
She weeps as she did at La Salette on the 19th of Sep- 
tember, 1846. * * * How do we feel, dear reader, in 
this regard? 

II. Consider how much the Most Holy Virgin is 
grieved by the agitations that now disturb the world: so 
many revolutions without the slightest shadow of justice 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 49 

on their side, so many robberies committed on the 
Catholic Church, so many governments devoid of all 
religion, who have drawn the sword of persecution 
against the spouse of Jesus Christ, so many scandals, 
blasphemies, immodesties. * * * And such being the 
state of society in our days, we can realize how great 
the danger of perversion for the weak, the young, and 
the innocent, and the consequent risk of eternal damna- 
tion. * * * Are you one of those deluded creatures who 
approve of certain accomplished facts in defiance of the 
unanimous consent of the Catholic Bishops, and the 
Pope ? Have you not co-operated in their accomplish- 
ment by your acts, by your expressions, by buying and 
reading books and journals written in defence of such 
sacrileges ? 

III. Consider that the first request manifested by the 
Madonna of Lourdes was to pray for sinners. Perhaps 
you have never reflected on this spiritual work of mercy, 
so dear to God and to His Blessed Mother, because of its 
being so profitable to souls. The Prophet Nathan, pray- 
ed for sinful David ; Onias, for Heliodorus, etc. * :: " * * 
" Pray one for another, that you may be saved. For 
the continual prayer of the just man availeth much," 
writes the Apostle, St. James ( Jas. v. 16). And further, 
is not the express desire of our Mother sufficient for 
you ? And you, devout soul, who, perhaps, recite such 
long prayers every day, and make so many Communions, 
etc. — do you do anything for poor sinners ? 

Resolve, if you fall into mortal sin, not to let the sun 
go down that day without having first gone to Confes- 
sion ; and then persevere in the grace of God. 

Practice. — Becite to-day at least the third part of the 
Rosary for the conversion of sinners. 



50 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Ejaculation. — Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, 
sinners ! 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Chapel demanded, or the Seventh and Eighth 
Apparitions. 

"Thou hast commanded me to build a tempel on Thy holy mount." 
Wisd. ix. 8. 

Up to this date, the 21st of February, although the 
knowledge of the apparitions at the Grotto formed the 
ordinary theme of conversation in Lourdes and the 
adjacent towns, and although all possible interpreta- 
tions were advanced on the subject, still no one had 
openly dared to contradict Bernadette to her face. On 
that Sunday after Vespers, she was cited by the Com- 
missary of Police, who, as we shall note in the second 
part of this volume, forbade her under severe penalties 
to go again to the Grotto, and compelled her parents to 
enforce his prohibition. Accordingly, on the following 
day, although a great number of persons had assembled 
there at the usual hour waiting her arrival, she, obedi- 
ent child, did not go ; but towards noon, returning from 
school, she felt some irresistable power urging her 
thither, and she w^ent — but the Most Holy Virgin did not 
appear to her. On her return home, she related all to 
her parents, who, notwithstanding the threats of the 
Commissary of Police, withdrew their prohibition. 
TVherefore, the seventh apparition took place on Tues- 
day, 23d of February, at the usual hour. 

" Bernadette," said the Lady. 

" Here I am," replied she. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 5] 

" I wish to tell you a secret— you alone, for you only 
does it concern. Do you promise me not to divulge it 
to any one in the world ? 

" I do," replied the little girl. Then followed a dia- 
logue between the Lady and Bernadette regarding a 
mystery, the nature of which we cannot, and ought not, 
investigate. 

"And now, my daughter," terminated the Lady, " go 
tell the priests that I wish a chapel to be built here." 
While speaking these words, her countenance, her looks 
and gestures seemed to promise graces innumerable to 
be obtained there ; and she disappeared. 

" What has the Vision told you ?" asked the multi- 
tude, gathering around Bernadette as soon as they saw 
her transfiguration had terminated 

" The Lady has told me two things; one for myself 
alone, and the other for the priests, and I am just going 
to them," replied Bernadette, impatient to deliver her 
commission : accordingly she returned in all haste to the 
city, the crowd following behind. Having arrived at the 
parochial residence, she asked for an interview with the 
Pastor, who soon came to see her. But, as we shall 
have occasion to record in the second part of this book, 
he received her coldly, and, as his prudence directed, 
gave no credit to her words, threatened her with the 
judgment of God if she was telling a He, and dis- 
missed her with the obligation of saying to the Lidy of 
the Grotto. u that if she wished a chapel, she must 
needs give a sure sign of her power, — viz : to make the 
wild rose-bush beneath her feet flower in the depth of 
winter." 

And in fact, the next morning, Wednesday, 24th of 
February on which the eighth apparition occurred, the 



52 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

little girl related the Pastor's words to the Lady, who 
without speaking, received them with a smile. Then 
she commanded the child to pray for sinners, and to 
descend into the depths of the Grotto, exclaiming three 
times — Penance ! Penance ! Penance ! — words which 
she repeated as she descended on her knees into the 
depths below, a distance of about fifteen metres. Within 
those silent depths the Lady revealed to her another 
secret, and disappeared. Such is the faithful account 
which Bernadette immediately went to narrate to the 
Pastor, who took the matter into consideration, and dis- 
missed her saying : " Very well ; we shall see. Let us 
await the issue." Nevertheless, he remained firm in 
the prohibition he had at first issued to his assistant 
priests not to visit the Grotto ; and they never did. 

MEDITATION. 

I. Consider how the most Hold Virgin demands a 
Chapel at the Grotto, and in due time a magnificent 
and most costly Basilica is raised in her honor ; and 
learn hence the necessity of temples and churches. In 
the first place, God is the creator and master of all 
things, and therefore, all things, even the material, 
should tend to give him glory. Secondly, in the old law 
God Himself, demanded a temple, which w r as the won- 
der of the world, and wished that in its construction 
there should be used gold, and silver, and precious 
stones, and timber of sweetest perfume carved with 
exquisite taste — in fact the description is so marvelous 
that unless it was furnished in the inspired writings, 
one would scarcely believe it. Did He not thus make 
known His divine will ? Thirdly, it was the custom of 
all the different peoples of the earth, both in ancient 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 53 

and modern times, to build temples to the Divinity, as 
history proves. Is not that then a voice of nature 
which calls upon us to raise temples to God under the 
invocation of the Blessed Virgin, or of the Saints ? Are 
you, dear reader, one of those who say : " What need is 
there of so many churches?" * * * Do you co-operate 
as far as in your power, in offering God this manner of 
worship ? 

II. Consider the advantage we receive from churches. 
First, in them reposes the Most Holy Sacrament, so that 
in our very midst we have our Master to assist us ; sec- 
ondly, in them we can offer up our prayers, attend Mass, 
and receive the Sacraments with so much spiritual fruit ; 
thirdly, in them we are taught the several duties of our 
respective states ; fourthly, by the grandeur of decora- 
tion, and the magnificence of the sacred functions our 
hearts, which are so material in their tendencies, and 
consequently so much in need of external help, are 
raised up to God ; fifthly, into them our bodies are 
brought after death in order to have the last prayers 
and benediction pronounced over them. Do you think 
of this ? Have you not experienced a thousand spiritual 
benefits yourself if you have prayed devoutly and with 
recollection in the church ? 

III. But would it not be better to give to the poor 
what is wasted on churches, on their pompous decora- 
tions, and so many costly feasts ? My dear reader, if 
you speak so, know that you are not the first. Judas 
Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus Christ, was the first to ex- 
press such a sentiment regarding the ointment which 
Magdalene poured upon His head a little before the 
Passion ; and Judas was reprimanded while the pious 
woman was praised by the Bedeemer. Jesus gives you 



54 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

the same reproof. And then why do you not curtail 
the expenses of the theatres, the assembly rooms, even- 
ing enjoyments, and the fashions that change hi never- 
ending variety, on all which treasures are squandered, 
without the poor having a share in them ? And do you 
wish to cramp the churches, the only places the poor 
can derive any benefit from, because they are open to 
everyone? And further, we know from history, that 
when money was spent on churches it was done without 
so many other expenses, while now what is refused to 
the church is spent in building spacious barracks for 
soldiers and carabinieri, and, too often, on new and 
costly prisons. Let him who wishes, understand. 

Examine yourself on your faith in this respect, on the 
manner in which you reduce it to practice, and on the 
account you shall have to render to God of your riches; 
and resolve seriously to amend your life. 

Practice. — Make an offering to the church, in propor- 
tion with your circumstances. 

Ejaculation. — In ecclesus benedicam te, Domine. O 
Lord ! in Your churches I will bless Your Holy Nam 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Holy Fountain, or the Ninth Apparition. 

"I saw water issuing from the temple on the right, and all unto 
whom this water came, were saved." 

The Holy Church, from Ezechiel, xlvii. 

On Thursday, February the 25th, about six o'clock in 
the morning, according to custom, Bernadette was at her 
post amid the rocks of Massabielle, surrounded by a 
vast multitude. Soon the Lady appeared, and ad- 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 55 

dressed her in these words: "My daughter, I wish to 
confide to you, and to you alone, as you only does it 
concern, one last secret, which, like the other two, you 
will reveal to no person in the world." Bernadette, 
with feelings of joy unutterable, listened intently to the 
sweet and tender harmony of her words. After a short 
silence the Virgin added : "And now go drink and wash 
yourself at the fountain, and eat of the grass that grows 
beside it." 

At the word fountain Bernadette looked around, but 
there was no fountain there, and there never had been 
one. Then the little girl, without losing sight of the 
Virgin, began to proceed, as was natural, to the Gave 
which flowed near by ; but one word and gesture from 
the Apparition made her stand still. 

" Go not there," said the Lady ; " I did not tell you to 
go drink at the Gave, but at the fountain — it is there ;" 
and extending her hand, she pointed out to her with 
her finger on the right of the Grotto, that very 
same acclivity, perfectly arid, towards which on the pre- 
ceding morning she had made her proceed upon her 
knees. Although nothing in the place pointed out bore 
any relation to the words spoken by the Lady, still 
Bernadette obeyed, and on her knees dragged herself 
along. There against the rock were growing a few tufts 
of grass of the Saxifrage family, which is called 
Dorina. Whether by reason of some new signal of the 
Apparition, or by some spontaneous movement of her 
own soul, Bernadette, with that simple faith which is 
pleasing in the sight of God, stooped down, and scrap- 
ing up the earth with her little hands, commenced the 
work of excavation. The spectators wondered much. 
But lo! soon the bottom of the little hole grows moist 



56 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

with a mysterious water welling up from an unknown 
depth from beyond the rocks of the sea, and from below 
the strata of the earth, and which now spurts up drop 
by drop beneath the hands of Bernadette, and fills the 
little hole, which was about the size of a glass. This 
water mixing with the disturbed soil, was, of course, at 
first very turbid. Three times did Bernadette attempt 
to put the muddy liquid to her lips, in order to drink, 
and as often did her efforts fail. But as she wished to 
obey the Lady, she tried once again, and, aided by a 
supernatural power, overcame her repugnance, drank of 
the water, washed herself with it, and eat a little piece 
of the wild grass that was growing at the foot of the 
rock. 

At this very moment the water overflowed its little 
receptacle, and began to run in a very fine vein — more 
slender, perhaps, than a straw, towards the multitude 
gathered in front of the Grotto; but soon it was ab- 
sorbed by the sun, leaving only a moist trace of its ex- 
istence in the direction of the Gave. 

And now that Bernadette had complied with all the 
orders of the Apparition, the Virgin fixed upon her one 
look of satisfaction, and then disappeared. The mul- 
titude, now that the transfiguration of the child had 
ended, gathered around her and hurried to the Grotto. 
Each wished to see for himself the little chink whence 
the water had sprung, wet his handkerchief with it, and 
put a drop of it to his lips; so that by this oft repeated 
action the little spring, whose earthy receptacle was in- 
creasing in size, very soon assumed the appearance of 
puddle, or of a liquid heap of tempered clay. Mean- 
while the stream became more abundant, and the open- 
ing grew larger insensibly. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 57 

"It must be water that flowed from the rocks in 
time of rain, and which having by chance embedded 
itself under the soil, was accidentally discovered by the 
little girl, while scraping up the earth." So said the 
scientists of Lourdes when they heard of the fact; and 
the philosophers were perfectly satisfied with the ex- 
planation. 

Next day the fountain springing, doubtless, from a mys- 
terious depth by reason of some unknown power, and 
visibly increasing, discharged itself in a still more 
powerful issue. It was now running in a streamlet of 
about the thickness of a finger. Nevertheless, the labor 
it had to undergo in opening itself a passage through 
the mould rendered it still muddy. It was only after a 
few days, having considerably increased meanwhile, 
that it discontinued enlarging its volume, and became 
perfectly clear. Then it was flowing from the earth 
in a stream of about the thickness of a child's arm. 

It is needless to say that this is the celebrated Foun- 
tain of Lourdes, whose water has wrought so many 
miracles. M. Lasserre, in 1868, had it measured before 
his eyes, and calculated that it discharges by the three 
pipes that have since been put in connection with it, a 
volume of 85 quarts a minute, and, consequently, 5,100 
quarts an hour, and 122,400 quarts a day. 

And now, pious reader, place side by side the events 
that took place during the eighth and ninth apparitions, 
in order to discover their connection. The Most Holy 
Virgin causes a fountain, which works wonderful cures, 
to spring from an acclivity which she made her little 
innocent child ascend on her knees, exclaiming three 
times— Penance; and she wishes her to eat of the grass 
that grows beside it, and make the following 



58 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

MEDITATION. 

I. Consider how our Mother, Mary, is indeed, as she 
is styled in the Litany, the health of the weak and the 
comfort of the afflicted. Oh, what goodness ! What 
condescension in so august a Queen ! What love ! 
What compassion for our miseries! Do you believe it? 
Do you entertain the idea that calling the Most Holy 
Virgin our Mother is only a certain form of expression, 
a pious exaggeration not based upon truth? Believe 
its reality from the effects it produces. Do you not 
see the works of this Mother ? Why do you not, then, 
have recourse to her in your corporal necessities, with 
the love and confidence of a child ? 

II. Consider, moreover, that the Immaculate Virgin 
Mary is not only the health of the sick, but also the 
refuge of sinners ; — nay, more, the refuge of sinners in a 
most especial manner, because she is more desirous of 
converting us and making us saints, than she is of heal- 
ing our corporal afflictions, — for these, when borne with 
patience, gain for us merit in life eternal, which is our 
last end and true destiny. And, indeed, she even avails 
herself of temporal blessings and bodily cures, in order 
to induce us to hold in high estimation and earnestly 
pray for the spiritual graces of the soul. How many, 
in fact, having been healed in body by the water of 
Lourdes, have been converted, and by the aid of the 
sacraments cured of spiritual evils ? Admire the pious, 
maternal care manifested by the Immaculate Virgin, 
and live in such a way as to deserve to be a recipient 
of her beneficence. 

III. — Consider, in fine, that the surest way to obtain 
health of body is to commence to heal the soul by works 
of penance — that is to say, by a hatred and detestation 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION . 59 

of sin, joined with a firm purpose of amending your life 
by making a good confession, by practicing morti- 
fication in eating and drinking, and by curtailing super- 
fluous sleep, diversions and conversations. This did 
M. Lasserre, who was cured of a desperate disease of 
the eyes by the water of Lourdes, adopt as a rule of 
lif e. How do you feel in this respect ? How often you 
do not even reflect that your soul is sick, and perhaps 
dead to the grace of God by mortal sin, and still you 
expect temporal gifts from Him and His Blessed Mother. 
Remember that before Jesus Christ cured the paralytic 
mentioned in the Gospel, he said to him : " Son, thy sins 
are forgiven thee," — a sign that sin very often is the 
cause of bodily afflictions and sickness. Know then 
this truth in order to profit by it. 

Practice, — If you are in need of temporal favors from 
the Madonna of Lourdes, commence, in order to obtain 
them, to make a good confession and a devout Novena. 
And if not, recite to-day the Litany for the Sick, who 
stand so much in want of them. 

Ejaculation, — Mala nostra pelle, bona cuncta posce. O 
Immaculate Virgin Mary ! drive away our ills, and ob- 
tain for us all good things through your most powerful 
intercession. 



CHAPTEB IX. 

The Immaculate Conception. 

"And a great sign appeared in Heaven : A woman clothed with the 

sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 

twelve stars " Apoc. xii. 1. 

The same day on which the^fountain sprung up a 

workman of Lourdes, called Louis Bourriette, having 



60 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

been over twenty years almost blind of his right eye — an 
affliction occasioned by some terrible mishap, was in- 
stantly cured of his malady by an application of this 
miraculous water. Other cures, equally wonderful, have 
been wrought by it. Hence it is that although on the 
following Friday, 26th of February, the Lady did not 
appear; although the tenth, eleventh and twelfth ap- 
paritions took place on the 27th and 28th February 
and 1st of March, without notably differing from those 
that had preceded them, Bernadette having gone after 
the thirteenth apparition, which occurred on Tuesday, 
the 2d of March, to the Cure of Lourdes, and having 
told him that the Lady wished a chapel to be built, and 
processions made to the grotto, he, in consequence of 
the wonderful things that had taken place, replied : - 

" I believe you ; but what you ask in the name of the 
Apparition does not depend from me, but from the 
Monsignore Bishop, whom I have already made 
acquainted with all that has happened. I will go 
inform him of this new request also. To him alone 
does it belong to take action in the case." 

The fourteenth and fifteenth apparitions took place 
on Wednesday and Thursday, March 3d and 4th, and 
differed from the others only in this that an immense 
gathering of about fifteen or twenty thousand person as- 
sembled at the Grotto ; and the civil authority was very 
much discomposed by so large a concourse of people. 
On that day, the 4th of March, the fortnight asked for by 
the Virgin, terminated ; after which period Bernadette 
continued her visits to the Grotto, but without experienc- 
ing the power of that voice within that used to call her 
there: she experienced it, however, anew on the morning 
of the 25th of March, the feast of the Annunciation, and 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 61 

in compliance with that inward call, she journeyed to 
the Grotto, full of joy with the hope of seeing the Ap- 
parition again. She was scarcely outside of the house 
when the people began to shout : " Bernadette is going 
to the Grotto." Soon a great crowd assembled, and 
accompanied her on the way to the rocks of Massabielle. 
The Lady soon appeared to the little girl, as on the 
former occasions. 

" Oh my Lady !" Said Bernadette, " be so kind as 
to tell me who you are, and what your name is?" 

The Apparition smiled, but did not reply, liema- 
dette persisted, saying again : " O my Lady, be so 
kind as to tell me who you are, and what your name 
is." 

The Apparition seemed to grow more resplendent 
but answered not yet. Whereupon Bernadette re- 
doubled her solicitations, and repeated a third time, 
" O my Lady ! be so kind as to tell me who you are and 
what your name is." 

The Apparition seemed to become still brighter with 
beatific splendor, and to be wrapped up, as it were, in 
its own felicity. Still she remained silent. Bernadette 
addressed her again in these suppliant words : " O my 
Lady ! I beseech you to be so kind as to tell me who 
you are, and what your name is." 

The Lady had her hands fervently joined, while 
her face shone with the splendor of infinite beatitude. 
There was humility in that brightness. At the little 
girl's last request she unlocked her hands, and passed on 
to the right arm the corona strung in gold, whose stones 
were alabaster. Next she extended her arms and in- 
clined them towards the ground, as if to show to the 
world her virginal hands full of benedictions ; and then 



62 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

elevating them towards the eternal mansions whence, on 
that day, the Divine messenger of the Annunciation had 
descended, she joined them again with fervor, and look- 
ing on heaven with sentiments of unspeakable gratitude 
pronounced these words : " I am the Immaculate Con- 
ception." Having spoken thus, she disappeared. And 
Bernadette, who had now certainly for the first time 
heard these words, used all her powers not to forget 
them along the road. 

" I repeated them to myself all the way," she said, 
" in order not to forget them;" and at every step she 
gave, until she had reached the parochial residence, she 
repeated : Immaculate Conception, Immaculate Con- 
ception, because she wished to convey the precise words 
of the Vision to the Pastor in order that the chapel 
might be built, as she candidly related. 

Behold then the name of this celestial Apparition, so 
much desired and so often asked for. The Immaculate 
Conception ! One of the great dogmas defined in the 
nineteenth century — one of the greatest glories of the 
Sovereign Pontiff, Pius IX. ! ! ! Let us enter into our- 
selves, and make the following 

MEDITATION. 

I. Consider the meaning of the words : I am the Im- 
maculate Conception. The most holy Virgin did not 
say: I am Mary Immaculate; nor did she give herself this 
appellation : I am the conceived without sin ; but only, "I 
am the Immaculate Conception," as if to mark the par- 
ticular character of this divine privilege. The Immacu- 
late Conception! Always pure — always fair — always 
spotless ! Never tarnished by even the smallest stain — 
never, by the slightest blemish — never, by even the 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

shadow of sin ! Never in disgrace with God ; always in 
favor with him. Never under the dominion of the devil ; 
always in body, and soul, and heart united to God in 
strictest friendship. "What a mystery ! How honor; tjrie 
how glorious for Mary ! And, dear reader, do we E 
ciently appreciate this privilege of Mary ? Do we endea- 
vor to draw near -to her, no matter how great the ii i 
vening distance, by a faithful practice of the virtue of 
purity, by flying from the occasions of sin, and by keep- 
ingour consciences unsullied? 

II. Consider the motives that induced Mary to call 
herself the Immaculate Conception, which, as far as we 
poor ignorant creatures can conjecture, are the following : 
first, because in 1858, this was the most recently defined 
dogma of the Catholic Church, having been pronounced 
on the 8th of December, 1854. Did not Mary wish thereby 
to notify us of our obligation of keeping ourselves in 
strictest union with the Church, by believing and profess- 
ing all that she believes and teaches ? Ah ! what a beau- 
tiful confirmation of the Definition pronounced by Pope 
Pius IX. four years previous ! Second, because this is 
the dogma which best combats the errors of the present 
time, namely : Rationalism and Naturalism, which rest 
upon that diabolical pride by reason of which the world 
now-a-days flatters itself with the belief that it can act 
and speak from itself, aided only by natural reason and 
wordly wisdom, and needing not at all divine and super- 
natural assistance. " Man," exclaims the world, now, "is 
self-sufficient, and needs not God." But Marjfcsays, " I 
am the Immaculate Conception :" that is to say, I am 
she whom God has preserved from original sin, by iv 
of which all men come into the world weak, ignorant, 
and incapable of knowing of themselves alone the true 



64 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

religion, and of saving their souls. Poor, haughty 
slaves of the devil and sin, what do you believe your- 
selves to be ? Is not all this true ? 

III. Consider the duties which this title of Mary im- 
poses upon mankind. First, it requires of them a true, 
entire, firm and lively faith in all the dogmas of religion, 
because all are equally certain, having been defined by 
the Church. Second, it demands of them to abhor 
from their inmost soul the pernicious errors of the times, 
namely: Rationalism, and all its attendant consequences. 
Human reason is not enough of itself alone ; it needs 
the supernatural aid of divine Revelation, as well as the 
grace of God, which supports human weakness and ele- 
vates humanity to the supernatural order. Third, it 
calls upon them in a special manner to practice holy 
Christian humility — a virtue which teaches man to know 
himself, not to be proud of any talents he may possess, 
but to entertain a poor opinion of his thoughts, no mat- 
ter how sublime, of his words, however eloquent, and of 
his works, however great. Do you comply with these 
obligations? Examine your thoughts, words, and ac- 
tiors, and effect a radical change in your life. 

Practice. — Recite the Corona of the Immaculate 
Conception. 

Ejaculation. — O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for 
us who have recourse to thee ! 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 65 

CHAPTER X. 

The Ecstasy and the Salutation, or the last two 
Apparitions. 

"Turn away thy eyes from me, for they have made me flee away." 

Cant. vi. 4. 

After the 25th of March, the day on which the beau- 
tiful Lady had made known her most sweet name, Ber- 
nadette did not feel within her the wonted voice and 
impelling power that used to invite her to the Grotto, 
and this was a sign that the Lady would not manifest 
herself again until Easter Monday, the 5th of April. 
On that morning Bernadette hurried on to the Grotto, 
followed by an immense crowd ; and soon Mary Immac- 
ulate revealed herself to the daughter of the miller. 
During this apparition, the last but one, a most extra- 
ordinary event occurred. 

The wax torch which Bernadette had brought with 
her, and which was no doubt a present, was very large, 
and she rested it upon the ground, supporting it by the 
extremity between her hands half joined. The Virgin 
appeared. And lo ! the seer having by an instinctive 
movement of worship fallen down in ecstasy before 
that Immaculate Beauty, raised her hands a little, and 
let them rest quietly, and without any reflection on her 
part, upon the lighted end of the torch. And now the 
flame passed through her fingers, and flickered above 
them in the gentle breeze. Meanwhile, Bernadette re- 
mained immovable and rapt in heavenly contempla- 
tion, and did not perceive the phenomenon which was 
the wonder of the multitude. The eye-witnesses trod 
upon each other in their anxiousness to obtain a better 
view. There were present John Louis Foucarde, Mar- 



66 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

tinou, Estrade, Callet, the forest guard (guardaforeste), 
the Misses Tard'hivail, and a hundred others besides. 
From the very first Dr. Dozous had kept his watch be- 
fore his eyes, and testified that this wonderful occur- 
rence had lasted over a quarter of an hour. 

Soon a slight tremor passes over Bernadette's person. 
The ecstatic rapture that had lit up her countenance, 
fades away. The Vision had vanished, and the little 
girl was once more in her natural state. People exam- 
ined her hands, but nothing unusual was the matter. 
The flame had respected the flesh of the little seer rapt 
in ecstasy before Mary. The multitude declared it to 
be a miracle. But one of the spectators wishing to 
test it, took the lighted torch, and without attracting 
Bernadette's attention, placed it in contact with her 
hand. "Ah! sir," she exclaimed, at the same time 
withdrawing her hand, "you burn me !" 

This event was rumored very much about, and the 
journal of Lourdes, II Lavedau, spoke of it thus : " Ber- 
nadette, as an eye-witness tells us, being in ecstasy, had 
her hand for a long time in contact with the flame of a 
torch, without experiencing the slightest pain. You 
can well imagine that the people declared it to be a 
miracle." How candid this last reflection ! Wait and 
see if it was not right for the people to proclaim the 
fact miraculous, inexplicable as it was on natural grounds. 

It was on this very day, 5th of April, that the Syndic 
of Lourdes had his agents placed on all the highways 
and byways, to count the number that might pay a 
visit to the Grotto. There were on that day 9,060 per- 
sons— 4,822 from Lourdes and 4,238 strangers. (Archivio 
Municipale di Lourdes. Lettera del Sindaco al Pre- 
fetto, No. 86.) And still the people had not anticipated 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 67 

Bernadette's visit, as was their custom during the fifteen 
days. They did not know that she had gone to the 
Grotto. We need not wonder, then, that during the 
fortnight a number of more than 20,000 persons, is cal- 
culated to have visited the rocks of Massabielle. 

This extraordinary concourse of people disturbed the 
civil authority. The Commissary of Police, the Syndic, 
the Imperial Procurator, referred the case several times 
to the Prefect, and he, to the Minister of Grace and 
Justice of Napoleon III.; and the matter made such 
headway, as we shall mention in the second part of this 
book, that the Grotto was fenced in, guards were placed 
around, and suits entered against those who went 
there to pray. 

Hence we find that the last apparition, which was not 
until the 16th of July, the Feast of Carmel, took place 
in a different manner from the others. Bernadette, not 
being able to go to the Grotto, passed along the right 
bank of the Gave (just opposite), into the Savy meadows, 
whither the people flocked after the prohibition. There 
they were in front of the Grotto, although the river 
flowed between. 

On that day Bernadette felt within her a voice in- 
viting her to go, not to the rocks of Massabielle, but to 
the opposite side of the Gave; and she went there about 
eight o'clock in the evening. As soon as she had knelt, 
and had commenced the Eosary, the Most Holy Mother 
of Jesus Christ appeared to her. The Gave, which 
separated her from the Grotto, was some way concealed 
from her ecstatic sight. Before her she saw only the 
blessed rocks, which seemed as near to her now as ever 
before, and the Immaculate Virgin, who smiled sweetly 
on her, as if to confirm the past and illumine the future. 



68 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Not a word passed her heavenly lips. A little later, she 
bowed her head to the girl, as if to bid her a long, or a 
last farewell: after which she disappeared, and re- 
turned to her mansion beyond the skies. 

This was the time, perhaps, that a certain lady, as- 
tonished at seeing this poor little shepherdess make her 
salutations with so much grace and dignity at the ter- 
mination of her ecstasies, said to her: "But, Berna- 
dette, who has taught you to bow so gracefully?" "No • 
one," replied she, lost in wonder. " I do not know how I 
have saluted ; but I know I should do everything as the 
Lady does ; and she salutes me in that way when she 
is about to depart." 

This was the eighthteenth and last apparition. 

And now, having seeen the ecstatic felicity Bemadette 
experienced at the feet of the Virgin, let us enter into 
ourselves, and make the following 

MEDITATION ON THE HAPPINESS OF ONE WHO IS TRULY 
DEVOUT TO MAEY. 

L Consider that even as Bernadette was happy in 
the presence of the Immaculate Virgin, so, also, is every 
one who is truly devoted to her. Like Bernadette, such 
a one cares not for the things of earth. Occupied with 
the love of the Queen of Heaven, what earthly thing can 
engage the affections of his heart ? Can riches ? He 
has with him her who says : " With me are riches." 
Can honors ? He is the son of her who has been ex- 
alted above the choirs of angels, and seated upon a lofty 
throne beside that of God Can pleasures, though law- 
ful ? He refers them all to the glory of his Queen. Can 
unlawful pleasures ? He knows that they displease his 
Immaculate Mother, and, therefore, shuns them, aye. 



ME IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 69 

even the most remote occasion of them, with all his 
power. Wherefore, not having his heart placed on the 
things of this earth, he participates not of their insta- 
bility. Poverty, humiliations, mortifications and suffer- 
ings, while they spare him not, do not conquer, debase, 
or deject him. * "* * Dear reader, have you seriously 
reflected on this? Would you not, by devoutly meditat- 
ing on these truths, have been spared the greater part of 
your tribulations ? 

II. Consider how one truly devoted to Mary, like 
Bernadette, has his senses, Ms heart and his soul, ravished 
by the sweetness of his beloved Queen. In the heavens 
above, and on the earth beneath, he sees nothing but 
Mary Immaculate. The sun says to him : " Mary is 
bright as the sun." The moon : "She is beautiful as 
the moon." The stars : — they crown her august brow 
the aurora when rising, reflects her graces ; the lofty 
trees declare her majesty : like a cedar am I exalted on 
Libanus ; the lily bespeaks her purity. In a word, all 
his thoughts and affections are directed to her. If he 
thinks of his worldly affairs, if he loves persons with 
whom he may be connected in any way, all the yearn- 
ings of his nature are directed to his Lady and Mother. 
What a beautiful way to live ! Have you experienced 
its happiness ? Enter into yourself and think. 

III. Consider how the felicity of such a one increases 
while in expectancy of life eternal. While here below, he 
cannot love this good Mother perfectly: above, his love 
will be perfect. * * * No more fear of losing her: abso- 
lute certainty of enjoying her company forever. * * If 
the apparition of the Virgin here below, inebriated the 
heart of Bernadette with so much felicity, that, while in 
her august presence, she could attend to nothing be- 



70 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

side— nay, that she was insensible even to the flame of 
the torch that flickered through her fingers. * * * If, 
even to this day, her mind is full of the sweet impres- 
sions then produced, and her heart becomes enamored 
as she looks back in thought to those by-gone hours — 
oh ! what will be her happiness in heaven ? * * * * If , 
moreover, St. Francis of Assisi could say : " So great is 
the glory I expect that any suffering in this life is a 
pleasure to me," is it not true that any ore who is truly 
devoted to Mary, feels happy in the hope of life eternal, 
where he shall ever enjoy the company of this most 
amiable, most sweet, and most loving Mother ? 

Examine your heart well upon the importance you 
usually attach to devotion to the Virgin Mary. If you 
do not feel that tender passion, endeavor to acquire it ; 
and if you have it to some extent, strive to make it 
perfect. 

Practice. — Fast once, or practice some mortification 
in order to obtain from God and the Virgin Mary the 
grace of true devotion. 

Ejaculation.— O Mary Immaculate, through the love of 
Jesus Christ, obtain for me true devotion ! 



CHAPTER XI. 

The Two Missed Apparitions. 
'* Behold He standeth behind our wall." Cant. ii. 9. 

Having finished the history of the eighteen appari- 
tions of the Immaculate Virgin at the Holy Grotto of 
Lourdes, let us turn our attention to the two appari- 
tions so anxiously expected by Bernadette during the 
fortnight's visits asked for by the Most Holy Virgin. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 71 

Our readers will recollect that in the third appari- 
tion, which took place on the 18th of February, the 
mysterious Lady of the Grotto invited Bernedette to 
visit there for a term of fifteen days, and that she 
promised to do so. Whereupon the Lady pledged her- 
self to make her happy — not, indeed, in this world, but 
in the next. 

It is certainly true that by having given this invita- 
ion to the girl, the Lady was not bound to make her- 
self visible during the whole fortnight ; still it seemed 
natural to suppose that she would manifest herself. 
And yet, on two occasions, namely, Monday, the 22d 
of February, and the following Friday, she did not ap- 
pear; thereby causing poor little Bernadette extreme 
pain. 

On the 22d of February especially, the little girl suf- 
fered extreme anguish. The previous day the Commis- 
sary of Police had her brought before him, and threat- 
ened her with the severest penalties in case she should 
go again to the Grotto. He said he would have herself 
and her parents arrested by the Caribinieri if she went 
there, and, in fine, issued a formal prohibition to that 
effect : a prohibition which was confirmed by her pa- 
rents, and by the Sisters to whom she went to school. 
The latter treated her harshly, and regarded her as an 
imposter. The school-girls jeered at her as if she was 
a vain, sacrilegious wretch, who wished to be reputed 
a saint. * * * Nevertheless, the Lady had extended 
to her an invitation for a fortnight, and as yet only 
three days had elapsed, so she felt herself obliged to 
pay the visits according to promise. What was she to 
do in this perplexity? Could she disobey her parents 
and her other superiors? She had never been guilty 



72 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

of a single act of disobedience, and she did not wish to 
commit such a crime now. * * * Again, to be un- 
faithful to her word pledged to the Lady — ah! that 
caused her anguish beyond endurance. Still she did 
not go at the usual hour to the Grotto. She went to 
school at the proper time, and felt sad and melancholy 
the whole morning. 

About noon it was customary for the girls to leave 
school for dinner, and Bernadette, distracted between 
the two extremes of the situation, walked homeward in 
sorrow. The church-bell was now tolling the Angelus. 

At that very moment a strange power suddenly took 
possession of her, acting like an invisible arm, not upon 
her soul, but upon her body, and impelling her on 
towards the Grotto, not roughly nor violently, but with 
a sweetness irresistible. She obeyed this resistless, im- 
pellent force. And now she began to smile, and became 
jubilant with the thought that the mysterious Lady 
would again appear to her, and chase away all her sor- 
rows. Poor child ! She did not know that the Spirit of 
God breathes wherever He wills. * * * Before she 
arrived at the Grotto the unseen force began to relax — 
different from the other occasions on which, having 
reached the same point, it seemed to impel her with 
redoubled power, and to support her as she walked. 

Nevertheless, she succeeded in reaching the Grotto. 
Many not having seen her arrive at the usual hour in 
the morning, returned home. Still a considerable num- 
ber remained. The little girl, as was her custom, hum- 
bly knelt and began her Rosary, keeping her eyes fixed 
on the niche. The crowd, regarding her attentively, 
were anxiously awaiting the moment of her transfigura- 
tion. A long time passed away in expectancy. Berna- 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 73 

dette continued to pray — manifesting, however, no sign 
of the presence of the Vision. Heaven, like the world, 
seemed to be rejecting her, and to have become deaf to 
her prayers : the Lady appeared not. 

"Oh! why do you not come?" said the little girl. 
" Oh ! why abandon me ?" 

The people, looking confused, overwhelmed her with 
interrogatories. And she replied, her eyes at the same 
time red from weeping : " To-day the Lady has not ap- 
peared to me; I have seen nothing." 

Some of the people said to her : " Tou should under- 
stand now, poor little child, that it was all an illusion, 
and that there never was anything real there. Tou are 
the victim of imagination." * * * "And in good 
earnest," added others," if the Lady appeared yester- 
day, why not appear to-day?" * * * "Neverthe- 
less," insisted the little girl, " on the other occasions I 
saw her as I now see you, and she and I spoke toge- 
ther. But to-day she is not here, and I do not know 
the reason." *•'*'.* "Nonsense!" exclaimed a cer- 
tain sceptic, " the Commissary of Police has produced 
the effect he desired, and you will see that all is fin- 
ished. ' At the desire of the king, God has forbidden 
the working of miracles here.' "* 

The believers amongst the assembled people, were 
much afflicted in heart. Bernadette wept and prayed. 
She examined her innocent conscience, to see if there 
lurked therein any sin that might render her unworthy 
of seeing the Lady, but could discover none. She wished 
to devise means whereby the Lady might be induced 



* "Eda parte del re a Dio proibito 
Di miracoli fare in questo sito. " 



74 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

to re-appear, but failed in the effort. Still all hope of 
seeing her again had not vanished — one tiny beam of 
that heavenly light still shone upon her heart ; and, as 
we have already seen, this faithful little mountain maid 
was honored with twelve more visions, to the shame and 
confusion of the unbelieving scoffers. 

Let us pass unnoticed the rashness and audacity of 
these sceptics, who said: "Why would not the Lady 
appear to-day if she did appear yesterday?" Ignorant 
worms of the earth ! what can you know of the reasons 
that guide heavenly action ? Who can demand of God 
the reason of His line of conduct ? Can man's short- 
sightedness penetrate into the depths of the inscrutible 
decrees of Infinite Wisdom ? * * * And now, while 
adoring the disposings of Divine Providence, let us with 
humility seek the reasons, on the grounds of conven- 
ience, which may probably be the cause why the Im- 
maculate Virgin did not manifest herself on these two 
days of the fortnight's visits asked of Bernadette. These, 
according to our opinion, can be the three following : 

1st. The non-appearance of the Virgin served to deter- 
mine Bernadette's parents to grant her a new permis- 
sion to visit the Grotto, for they feared they had dis- 
pleased the Lady by their prohibition : 2d. It tested 
the faith of those who did believe, and thus rendered 
it more meritorious, and more certain ; because if Berna- 
dette had been a cunning deceiver, would she have 
confessed that the Lady did not appear to her on these 
two occasions ? and further, if she had been deceived 
herself on the other occasions, why would she not be 
now also deluded ? 3d. The best reason why the Most 
Holy Virgin did not appear on the two occasions in 
question, is that she wished to keep her daughter hum- 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 75 

ble ; and she certainly needed the virtue of humility. 
Favored before the eyes of all with the most miracu- 
lous visions—commissioned to bear a heavenly message 
to the ministers of the true God, this childlike little 
soul, until now so tranquil and solitary, finds herself 
suddenly transported into the midst of a vast multitude, 
and countless agitations. Hers it was to stand up a 
living sign against the contradictions of one party, and 
the threats of another ; against the scoffs of many, and, 
what to her was fraught with still more danger, the en- 
thusiastic admiration of a still greater number. Ah ! 
yes ; the time was drawing nigh when vast multitudes 
would sound her praises, and contend in holy strife for 
every shred of her garments, as for so many holy relics 
of a saint. Yes, the time was nigh when persons eminent 
for intellectual and social standing, would prostrate 
themselves before her to ask her blessing ; — and, indeed, 
this did happen some time after. And now, in such 
circumstances, what would have become of her and her 
humility ? Might she not have taken vain pleasure in 
the extraordinary gifts which heaven had given her in 
such profusion ? Might she not have become a wreck 
to vanity and pride ? 

On the contrary, by not appearing on these two oc- 
casions the Holy Virgin gave her to understand that the 
favors of which she was the recipient, were divine larges- 
ses altogether beyond her reach. By allowing her to 
weep and pray, regardless at the same time of the sup- 
plications she poured forth in order to induce the vision 
to appear, Mary Immaculate gave her to understand 
that when she did manifest herself, as well as when she 
did not, it was all an act of her own pure bounty, to 
which the little girl could not lay claim as a right. 



76 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Admire here, dear reader, the wonderful dispositions 
of divine providence, always adorable, not always com- 
prehensible, still always beneficient ; and make the fol- 
lowing 

MEDITATION ON HUMILITY. 

I. Consider the essence of humility. Humility is that 
virtue which moderates the desire of self-excellence, that 
is to say, of honors. 1st. The proud man says in words 
or in acts, that he has not received from any one the 
gifts of nature, of fortune, or of grace which he happens 
to possess ; the humble man, on the contrary, admits 
that any good he does possess, he has received from God. 
2d. The proud man, if at other times he confesses he 
he has received any favor from God, attributes the re- 
ception of it to his own merits ; the humble man, on the 
contrary, acknowledges he has received all from God, 
without having at all merited those benefactions. 3d. 
The proud man believes he has gifts which in reality he 
has not ; the humble man, knowing his own nothingness, 
recognises no gift but what he really has in his possession . 
4th. The proud man, believing himself better than others, 
looks upon them with a disparaging eye ; the humble 
man, on the contrary, respects every one, for he does 
not consider himself better than they. Reflect, dear 
reader. Are you proud ? * * * or are you humble ? 

II. Consider the gravity of the vice of pride, and the 
excellence of the virtue of humility. 1st. Pride is the 
beginning of all sin, as the Holy Spirit says : " Initium 
omnis peccati est superbia" (Eel. x. 15.). On the other 
hand, humility is the beginning and foundation of every 
virtue. 2d. Pride, with few exceptions, is the most heinous 
of all vices, because it withdraws a man far from God, not 
through love of riches or pleasures, not through ignor- 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 77 

ance and fragility, as is the case with other vices, but 
through a spirit of rebellion which will not submit to God 
and His holy law, as St. Thomas teaches. On the other 
hand, humility is the most excellent of virtues because it 
attracts a man to yield a ready submission to God and 
His holy law. 3d. Pride is the most dangerous of all 
vices, for, as St. Gregory teaches, while others destroy 
only their opposite virtues — as, for example, anger des- 
troys patience, this annihilates every virtue, because 
by refusing to God the glory that is His due, it impels 
a man to the practice of virtue merely through self-love. 
On the contrary, humility is the most useful of all vir- 
tues, because it refers them all to God, and guards and 
protects them. * * * Have you ever reflected seriously 
on these things ? Perhaps it is because of your pride 
that your heart is sullied with so many vices, and 
adorned with so few virtues ! 

III. Consider the means of acquiring humility, which 
are chiefly five. 1st. We must beg it fervently of God 
and the Blessed Virgin. 2d. We ought to meditate fre- 
quently on the many examples of this virtue which are 
met with in the lives of Jesus, of Mary, and the Saints. 
3d. We ought to consider our own absolute nothingness, 
recalling to mind the words of St. Paul : " What hast 
thou that thou hast not received ? And if thou hast re- 
ceived, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received 
it ?" (1. Cor. iv. 7): and the words of the Holy Spirit: 
66 Why is earth and ashes proud ?" (Eccl. x. 9). 4th. We 
should recall to mind the chastisements with which God 
has ever punished the proud, and will continue to punish 
them, as St. James the Apostle writes : " God resisteth 
the proud, and giveth grace to the humble" (Jas. iv. 6): 
and also these words of the Holy Spirit : " He that hold- 



78 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

eth pride shall he filled with maledictions, and it shall ruin 
him in the end" (Eccl. x. 15). 5th. We might reflect, 
too, on the odium with which the world treats the proud, 
and the high esteem in which it holds the humble ; so 
that even here below the words of our Divine Savior in 
the Gospel are verified : " He that exalts himself shall 
be humbled, and he that humbles himself shall be ex- 
alted." 

Examine your conscience diligently, and make this 
most important of meditations the subject of frequent 
thought. 

Practice. — Speak not this day a single word in praise 
or dispraise of yourself ; and on no account let fall a 
word to the disadvantage of your neighbor. 

Ejaculation. — Jesus and Mary, grant me the virtue of 
humility. 



CHAPTEE XII. 

The Beauty of Mary Immaculate. 

" Thou art all fair, my love, and there is not a spot in thee." 

(Cant. iv. 7). 

"We cannot bring this first part of our book to a close 
without speaking of the beauty of the Apparition of the 
Grotto of Lourdes, that is of the Most Holy Immaculate 
Virgin. Therefore, we will reproduce M. Lasserre's mag- 
nificent description. 

" Bernadette said, ' when the Lady appears I begin 
first by seeing a brilliant light which illuminates the 
Grotto, and next I see her; while on the contrary, 
when the Vision disappears, it is the Lady first with- 
draws herself from my sight, and next the light fades 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 79 

away.' And now, this ineffable light which bathed with 
its effulgence the Lady's person, did not dazzle or 
wound the eyes like the rays of the sun ; on the con- 
trary, though brilliant as they, it was tranquil in its in- 
fluence as a profound shade, and attracted the gaze 
with a resistless power, at the same time affording it a 
delicious repose. It was like the morning starlight in 
all its freshness. There was nothing undefined, or vapor- 
like in the apparition. It had not the changing deline- 
ations of a fanciful vision ; it was a living reality, a 
human body, palpable to the eye as our bodies are, and 
differing from them only in its brilliancy and divine 
loveliness. 

" The Lady was of middle size. She looked very 
young, and had the grace of a woman of twenty years. 
But without loosing any of its tender sweetness this 
splendor, fleeting in earthly creatures, bore in her an 
eternal character. Nay, in her person the successive 
beauties of the four stations of life, blended harmon- 
iously with her divine loveliness. The innocent candor 
of the child, the spotless purity of the virgin, the tender 
gravity of motherhood, and a wisdom superior to that 
of all ages — all were centered in the miraculous face of 
the Lady. To what can I liken her in this fallen world, 
where the rays of the beautiful are distorted and ob- 
scured by impure mixtures ? Every image, every para- 
gon, no matter how excellent, would fall far short of 
this matchless type. No majesty in the universe, no 
worldly rank, no simplicity of character here below can 
give an idea of her, or aid one in better comprehending 
her. It is not with lamp-light that the stars of heaven 
are seen, or illumined. 

" The regularity and ideal purity of the expression of 



80 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

her countenance, where nothing stood in jarring con- 
tract, baffle description. Is it necessary to say that 
her face was of an oval curve of infinite beauty, that 
her eyes were blue, and so delicious in expression that 
their calm radience seemed to penetrate the heart of the 
beholder ? Need I say that her lips breathed a divine 
sweetness ? that on her forehead supreme wisdom with 
virtue without limit, sat enthroned ? 

" Her garments, made out of some unknown material, 
and woven, no doubt, in that mysterious work-shop in 
which the lily of the valley receives its adornment, were 
white as the spotless snows of the mountains, and more 
magnificent in their simplicity than the splendid robes 
of Solomon in his glory. Her gown was long and bore 
a train, which being chastely tucked up revealed her 
feet as they rested on the rock, and lightly pressed the 
branches of the wild rose-bush. On each foot of virginal 
whiteness budded forth a mystic rose of gold. 

"In front a sky-blue girdle knotted around her 
waist, extended in two long streamers to her feet ; while 
a white veil fixed around her head and enveloping, in 
its ample width, her shoulders and arms, descended to 
the extremity of her dress behind. 

" She wore no ring, no necklace, no diadem, no jewels, 
none of those ornaments with which human vanity is 
wont to decorate itself. A Rosary, whose stones were 
white as drops of milk, and whose chain was of gold, 
hung from her hands joined in fervor. The decades were 
passing through her fingers. The lips of this Queen 
of Virgins moved not during the first and the second 
apparition. Instead of reciting the Rosary, she was 
perhaps, listening in her own heart to the eternal echo 
of the Angelic Salutation, and to the mighty murmur of 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 81 

invocations addressed to her from earth. Every little 
stone she touched was, no doubt, fraught with a shower 
of heavenly grace that descended upon souls, even as 
the pearly dew-drops fall upon the flowers." 

Bernadette having been asked to describe the beauty 
of the Lady, gave such answers as, if failing in precise 
portraiture, at least furnished a faint picture from which 
to imagine its excellence. 

M. Di Eesseguier, Counsellor-General and Ancient 
Deputy of the Low Pyrenees, having come to visit her, 
accompanied by many ladies of his household, asked 
her if the Lady of the Grotto was as pretty as any of 
them. Bernadette glanced around, and then with a 
look depicted on her countenance that seemed to under 
value the assembled beauties when placed in contrast 
with this peerless Queen, said : " Oh ! she was far more 
beautiful than these ladies." Now, these ladies were the 
flower of society in Pau. 

Regarding the apparent age of the Lady, M. Las- 
serre says that she had the grace of a young woman 
of twenty years. M. Count Lafond, in his book entitled 
" La Salette, Lourdes e Pontmain, voyage d'un croyant" 
writes upon the matter thus : " From Bernadette's ac- 
count, we believe that Mary appeared in tender age, 
when there was not yet question for her of the more 
advanced years required for motherhood, such as she 
is depicted at Borne in that beautiful fresco in the 
convent of the Trinita del Monte, before which Pius 
IX. said on the 2d. October, 1846 : " It is a pious 
thought to have the Madonna represented at an age in 
which she seemed to have been forgotten." 



82 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Certainly Bernadette could say with Dante : 

"La bellezza ch'io vidi si trasmoda 
Non pur di la da noi, ma certo io credo 
Che solo it suo Fattor tutta la goda." (Parad. xxx). 

" Mine eyes did look 

On beauty, such, as I believe in sooth 
Not merely to exceed our human; but 
That save its Maker none can to the full 
Enjoy it." (Rev. H. F. Caey.) 

A few years ago M. Count Lafond, accompanied by 
a priest, went with the Bishop's permission to Nevers, 
to have an interview with Bernadette. One reply she 
made during the conversation, is also very illustrative of 
the beauty of the Holy Virgin, as she appeared at 
Lourdes. 

" I have come from Lourdes," said the priest to her 
" and have seen P. Hermann and M. Lasserre, both of 
whom have there obtained the cure of their eyes." 

Sister Mary Bernard, for such is now Bernadette's 
name in religion, opened her large eyes, which till now 
she had kept modestly cast down. * * * " I have 
seen the statue they have placed in the Grotto," added 
the priest, " it has its hands joined in this way : is it so 
that the Holy Virgin appeared to you ?" 

" Yes, sir," she replied; " but when she said to me : ' I am 
the Immaculate Conception,' she did this " Where- 
upon she made a gesture so beautiful, so noble, so grace- 
ful, that both these gentlemen were moved to tears. It 
seemed to them, writes the Count Lafond, that they 
then beheld a living copy of the Queen of Heaven as 
she appeared amid the Rocks of Massabielle. 

A certain lady of Nevers asked her one day if she 
had seen the Virgin Mary any more after the eighteenth 
apparition ? A flood of tears was her only reply. We 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 83 

can well understand how nmcli she desires to quit this 
earth in order to see once again the Immaculate ; and 
we understand, too, how beautiful, divinely beautiful, is 
the Most Holy Virgin, who has so much enamored her. 
Wherefore, dear reader, enter into yourself, and make 
the following 

MEDITATION ON THE BEAUTY OF THE YIEGIN MAKY. 

I. Consider what history tells us of the beauty of Mary. 
St. Epiphanius, as recorded by Nicephorus, has left us a 
sweet picture of the Virgin. This picture, executed in 
the fourth century upon traditions that have since died 
out, and on manuscripts that have not come down to 
our times, is therefore the only reliable one left us. The 
Virgin, according to this holy bishop, was not tall of 
stature, although she was still a little above the middle 
height. Her complexion, like that of Sulamitis, was 
slightly browned by the sun of her native land, and 
possessed all the beautiful gradations of ripe com ears. 
Her hair was blonde; her eyes were quick and sparkling, 
and in color a little inclined to the olive hue ; her eye- 
brows were black, and perfectly curved ; her nose was 
well shaped and aquiline ; her lips were ruddy as the 
rose ; her face was in shape oval ; her hands and fingers 
were long. The holy fathers rival each other in de- 
scribing the admirable beauty of the Holy Virgin. St. 
Dionysius, the Areopagite, whose testimony is of the 
greatest weight, inasmuch as he saw the Blessed Virgin 
on earth, says that her beauty was so dazzling aud 
attractive that he would have worshipped her as a god- 
dess, had he not known that there was only one God. 
And you, Christian reader, are attracted by the imper- 
fect and fallen beauties of this world. 



84 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

II. Consider what the Holy Bible tells us of the 
beauties of Mary. On mature reflection you will needs 
say that the Eternal Wisdom having conceived this 
beautiful creature in His divine mind, and, as it were, 
wishing to give expression to the infinite love He bears 
her, has taken a special delight in filling the Holy 
Scriptures with epithets descriptive of her excellence. 
Hence, does He predict her by the mouths of His 
Prophets as the Mother of the Redeemer, the figure in 
the virgin clay from which Adam was formed. She is 
styled the ark, which alone rode buoyant over the waters 
of the deluge ; the ladder of Jacob ; the burning bush ; 
the closed garden ; the sealed fountain ; the gate open 
only to the Most High ; the privileged amongst all 
women. And again is she symbolized in all the beauties 
of nature : in the cedar of Libanus ; in the cypress of 
Zion ; the palm of Cades ; the olive of the plains ; the 
plane-tree by the water side ; the lily blooming among 
thorns ; the rose of Jericho ; the ointment of sweetest 
fragrance ; the dove without spot ; the vine rich in fruit- 
bearing; the morning star beaming with brightness. 
She is called beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, 
sweet to look upon as the varicolored rainbow, pure as 
a spotless mirror. And again, describing her hands, 
eyes, face, cheeks, teeth, mouth, neck, hair, the Divine 
Creator becomes enamored, if we may use the expres- 
sion, with her beauty and grace, and exclaims : Oh ! 
how beautiful thou art, my love, my spouse, my sister, 
my dove, my pearl, my delight. Oh ! how beautiful art 
thou ! Thou art all fair, and there is no spot in thee. 
Thou art so beautiful that thou hast wounded my heart ; 
and to such an extent that I who am the King of Glory, 
am all enamored with thy loveliness : "And the King shall 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 85 

greatly desire thy beauty, for He is the Lord thy God." 
(Psalm, xliy). * * * Meditate, dear reader. * * * This 
beauty, more than human, is for you also. You can, by 
anticipation, enjoy it in this life by the practice of virtue; 
but especially and completely in the next. * * * Is your 
heart still fixed on the world ? 

III. Consider how all this excellence is still as noth- 
ing: all the glory and beauty of this heavenly Queen is 
from within, as the Holy Spirit says: " All the glory of 
the King's daughter is ivithin. (Psalm xliv). All we 
have said above is a portraiture only of Mary's external 
beauty ; but her true loveliness, and glory, and adorn- 
ment, are from within, and exist in her heart and soul 
which are full of the grace of God, and are enriched 
with such rare virtues that could they be seen by corpo- 
ral eyes, would enkindle in the hearts of men a more 
ardent fire of love than all her external attractions. 
Reflect, therefore, dear reader, upon her sanctity so 
amiable, and so much esteemed, even by the angels — 
upon the graces she had in this life, and the glory with 
which God has crowned her in heaven. Keep before 
your mind's eye this great prodigy, as the Apostle and 
Evangelist, St. John, calls her — that is to say, this peer- 
less woman, clothed ivith the sun, having the moon under 
her feet, and a crown of twelve stars around her head, and 
then say if it is not worth your while in order to merit 
her love, to renounce the riches, honors and pleasures 
of this world by becoming truly devoted to her. 

Practice.— Make with holy Job, a compact with your- 
self never more to think of persons or things that may 
cause you to fall into sin. 

Ejaculation.— Mother of my Jesus, Mother of love, 
to you do I consecrate my heart ! 



86 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 



PART II. 



The Teials of the Work of God at Loubdes. 



INTRODUCTION. 

The reader who has accompanied us thus far, when scanning this 
history for the first time, will certainly ask us, as he has a right to 
do, "Is all this true ? Are these apparitions real or imaginary? Do 
they rest on solid proofs ? " And the faithful Catholic will add : 
"Has the Church spoken regarding this subject ? And what has she 
said?" 

These are very reasonable questions, and we purpose answering 
them in this second part of our book, in which we shall see the 
works of God combatting all kinds of opposition, and finally tri- 
umphing over them all. 



CHAPTER I. 

The Opposition of Good Faith. 

"Your service is reasonable.'' Rom. xii. 1. 

Scarcely had the news of the apparitions at the Grotto 
of Massabielle spread abroad, till the inhabitants of 
Lourdes and the surrounding towns were divided into 
three classes regarding them ; and they may be arranged 
in the following order: 1st. The class that, all at once, 
believed the apparitions to be real, supernatural and 
divine; and we need scarcely say that this comprised 
the women, the simple, and the illiterate. 2d. The class 
of persons who denied the reality of the apparitions 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 87 

in toto, and even their possibility: and these were the 
Free Thinkers. 3d. There was another class who neither 
denied nor admitted their reality at the outset, but 
waited patiently for proofs sufficiently strong to enable 
them to pronounce prudent judgment upon them; and 
these were the well instructed and learned Christians. 

Let us pass by the first, for there is no reason why 
we should tarry with them. We shall reserve the sec- 
ond for the following chapter, and speak now of the 
third class whom we designate with this title: " The 
Opposition Party of Good Faith." And in this class we 
number: 1st. The parents of Bernadette; 2d. Her teachers 
and companions ; 3d. Dr. Dozous, and many other gen- 
tlemen ; 4th. The rest of the well instructed people of 
Lourdes, and of the neighboring towns, excepting the 
Clergy, of whom we shall speak separately. 

In the first place then, regarding the parents of Ber- 
nadette, we know that the mother, Louise Soubirous, 
shrugged her shoulders by way of negative, as soon as 
she heard what her daughter and the other girls rela- 
ted, on their return home, regarding the first apparitions. 
Addressing her daughter she said : " You are deceived ; 
there was nothing there. You thought you saw some- 
thing, but you have seen nothing. They are only the 
imaginings of foolish little girls." Accordingly, partly 
because she did not believe, partly because she feared 
that the girls might fall into the river, and partly, too, 
through a dread that it might be some evil spirit that 
had appeared, she strictly forbade her daughter to go 
there again. Bernadette's father and sister, Mary, were 
of the same opinion. Nevertheless, this prohibition, 
though often renewed, was as often withdrawn ; for hav- 
ing seen the girl in ecstasy, the fountain gash forth, and 



88 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

the wonderful cures effected by its waters, they believed 
In the second place, we notice Bernadette's teachers 
and companions in school. The teachers to whom 
Bernadette went to school were the Sisters of Charity 
and Instruction of Nevers, who had also charge of the 
hospital of Lourdes. These ladies, whether because 
engaged in their daily avocations, or because of the pro- 
hibition of the Cure, had never visited the Grotto, and 
consequently had never seen Bernadette in ecstasy ; 
wherefore they doubted the reality of the visions from 
the very first. Nay, they added their formal prohibition 
to that of her parents ; told her that there was nothing 
real seen by her, and that either her head was addle, or 
that she was telling lies. One of them, suspecting im- 
posture in a case so grave and holy, treated her with 
much severity, and regarded the whole scene of events 
as pure deception. " Naughty little girl," she said, you 
are making a very unseemly carnival in the holy season 
of Lent." Others accused her of wishing herself to be 
reputed a saint, and of practicing a sacrilegious joke. 
And to all these bitter reproofs and humiliations to 
which she was subjected, was added the mockery of some 
of her school-mates 

Then it was that the Most Holy Virgin sustained her 
child ; and after a little the Nuns themselves, illuminated 
by the wonders that happened around, not only believed 
the veracious testimony of this heaven-favored girl, 
and treated her with fondness, but even took her into 
their convent, and she is at present residing in their 
mother house at Nevers. 

In the third place, we must mention Dr. Dozous, who 
by the providence of God, happened to be near Berna- 
dette during the whole period of the apparitions. This 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 89 

gentleman, well skilled in medicine, endowed with 
prudence, and perfectly disinterested, undertook the 
study of the case with a marked and particular industry. 
He was almost always present at the apparitions, and 
studied them with all the skill of his profession. At 
first, indeed, he was incredulous himself; but having 
been convinced by evidence, he believed firmly, and 
regardless of human respect, published in testimony of 
his belief a book, entitled : "La Orotte de Lourdes, sa 
fontaine e ses giierisons" to which he put by way of epi- 
graph the words : I have believed because I have seen ; 
and there/ore have I spoken. And so of others ; for ex- 
ample, M. Estrade, receiver of indirect revenues at 
Lourdes, M. Dufo and many other members of the bar; M. 
Pougat, President of the Tribunal, the Commander of 
the Garrison, and several others besides believed be- 
cause they had witnessed her ecstasies. 

In the fourth place, we state that the rest of the in- 
structed people of Lourdes were at first incredulous 
regarding the apparitions ; but all of them who hap- 
pened to have been present at the ecstasies of Berna- 
dette, on seeing her illuminated face and heaven- 
directed movements, were soon convinced of the truth 
of the apparitions themselves ; and in their simplicity 
introduced a similitude, plain indeed, but very appro- 
priate : " In our valleys the sun is slow to show himseli 
because he is hidden on the east by the peaks of the 
Gers mountains. But long before we see him we can 
descry in the west, the reflection of his rays on the 
mountains of Bastsurgueres, which are lit up with his 
effulgence while we are still in shade ; and yet, although 
we do not see the sun directly, but only his reflection 
on the steaps, we are, nevertheless, certain of his pres- 



90 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

ence behind the lofty mountains of the Gers. Bas- 
tsurgueres, say we, sees the sun ; and did we occupy 
such an elevated position, we too would see him. Is it 
not so ? The same phenomenon has place when we fix 
our eyes on Bernadette illumined by the invisible ap- 
parition ; the certainty is the same, and the evidence 
similar. The face of the seer becomes suddenly so 
bright, so superhumanly transfigured, so impregnated 
with divine rays, that we assert with certainty, by reason 
of the brilliancy of Bernadette's face which we see, the 
presence of the illumining centre which we do not see. 
And did we not have a mountain of sin, and wretched- 
ness, and wordly distractions, and carnal obtuseness to 
hide from us its presence ; did we stand on a height 
parallel with the spiritual elevation of this innocent 
maiden — this pure snow-drop which no human touch 
has ever sullied, we too would see this illumining body 
not by mere reflection, but directly as she sees it when 
in ecstasy." 

It is in this way then, namely, by contemplating Ber- 
nadette transfigured, or by witnessing the wonderful 
events that happened at the Grotto, or the miracles 
wrought by the water of Lourdes, that the opposition 
party of good faith were convinced ; and, indeed, all 
ought to be, as we shall better see when speaking of 
miracles. 

We must remark here, that though we maintain that 
all men of good faith should stand convinced of the 
reality of the apparitions of the Immaculate Virgin at 
Lourdes, we do not intend to insinuate an obligation 
like to that imposed by faith. Private revelations, and 
apparitions, although certain, belong not to Catholic 
faith ; still they are often approved of by the Church. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 91 

And the Angelic Doctor teaches this when he says that 
our faith rests on no revelations except what have been 
made to the Patriarchs, Prophets, and Apostles (Scavini 
2. p. 617.) We only mean to speak of a species of ob- 
ligation imposed by reason and logic, which demands 
our assent to truths sufficiently proved. 

Wherefore, in the following meditation on faith, we 
shall, on account of the similarity of matter, speak of 
the truths of the Catholic religion which all are bound 
to believe. Make, therefore, dear reader, the following 

MEDITATION ON THE NATURE OF CATHOLIC FAITH. 

I. Consider what faith is. " Faith is a virtue infused 
into the soul by God, by which we believe firmly in God 
and the truths revealed by Him, and which are proposed 
to us by the Church on His authority." Hence, we see 
that by divine faith we believe only God himself, the 
truths He has revealed and which the Church proposes 
to our belief as such. The object of faith, then, are the 
truths contained in Holy Scripture and Divine Tradition, 
and nothing else. Further, the Church is Holy Scrip- 
ture because she gives it to us and interprets its mean- 
ing. She is like a mother who teaches her children — an 
instructress who speaks to her pupils ; nay, she is far 
superior to these, because she is assisted by God so that 
she cannot err* Are you aware of this, dear reader ? 
Are you not one of those who criticise the Church, and 
question Catholic faith without knowing it ? 

II. Consider the motives of Catholic faith : they are 
the infallible authority of God and the Church. She 
tells us that certain truths are revealed of God, and we 
admitting this, and knowing that God is infallible, and 
can neither deceive, nor be deceived, firmly believe 



92 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

these truths. Hence, since the Church is infallible in 
her definitions, and God in His revelations, our faith 
rests upon the most solid foundations conceivable. 
Reflect, then, dear reader, how certain, firm, and un- 
shaken our holy faith is. * * * Is this your faith ? 

III. Consider how beautifully adapted to Catholic 
faith are the words of St. Paul, given above: " Your ser- 
vice is reasonable," By faith we submit our intellect to 
God, who is sovereign truth. What more reasonable 
than this ? By doing so we do not believe blindly, but 
reasonably. It is by reason itself that we know the in- 
fallibility of God, and His consequent infinite authority. 
It is reason, too, that calls upon us to admit the infalli- 
ble authority of the Catholic Church. * * * Are you, 
my dear reader, one of those who say Catholics believe 
blindly and without foundation? Do you not assert 
that only weak-minded women and ignorant men can 
have Catholic faith ? 

Read this meditation over again, if it needs be, and ex- 
amine your conscience in order to ascertain if this is 
your faith. 

Practice. — Make this day three acts of faith slowly, 
and with attention. 

Ejaculation. — O Mary ! Mother of the faith, revive my 
faith in me ! 



CHAPTEE n. 

The Opposition of Bad Faith; or the Skeptics. 
"If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin: 
but now they have no excuse for their sin." John xv. 22. 

In these our days especially, there exists in the world 
a class of persons who wish to be called Strong-minded, 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 93 

Free Thinkers, nationalists, Philosophers, Learned, Sci- 
entists ; while in reality, none of these titles are suitable 
to them. Strong minds ? Do they show they have got 
a mind ? Free Thinkers ? Do they ever think ? Ration- 
alists ? Instead of using reason, do they not distort it ? 
Philosophers ? Do they really love wisdom, and seek it 
dispassionately ? Learned, Scientists ? They may be 
men of learning and science, if you will ; but they are 
skilled in every matter except religion ; and if they 
happen to have any fixed knowledge, they distort it by 
the most debased contradictions. They are those men- 
tioned by Ovid and Petrarch, who say, " I see the good, 
but embrace what is bad." They are those mentioned 
by St. Paul, " who know God, but do not Glorify Him 
as God." 

Regarding the point in question, they have estab- 
lished in their minds the impossibility of miracles, pro- 
phecies, and supernatural apparitions of God and His 
Saints, and therefore care not to study the facts that 
confirm them. One of them, a writer on the Paris 
Presse, said that if news were brought him, an- 
nouncing the most wonderful supernatural fact imagin- 
able, as occurring outside his own house on the piazza 
of Concord, he would not deign turn on his heel to see 
it. Hence it is that we designate the class to which he 
belongs by the term skeptics, for they are all of one 
accord in not believing, though they may differ in every- 
thing else. There was quite a number of this descrip- 
tion at Lourdes at the time of the apparitions of the 
Immaculate. 

At the first report of these supernatural occurrences 
the skeptics indulged a merry laugh, and regarding them 
as superstitions fit only to be hissed, said : " This little 



94 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

girl is not even old enough to take an oath ; she would 
not be admitted by a court of justice to bear testimony 
even in a case of no importance ; and is any one so 
foolish as to expect us to believe her when recording an 
impossibility like a supernatural apparition ?" 

We answer : Is a supernatural apparition an impossi- 
bility? Is a miracle impossible ? But tell me, my skep- 
tical friends of Lourdes and Paris, and of all places and 
times, what you understand by a miracle ? Surely, 
your meaning is the same as ours — namely, that it is a 
sensible fact that occurs by Divine power outside the 
ordinary course of events. Is it not so ? For example, 
the sun rises in the morning, careers through the hea- 
vens the whole day long, and sets in the evening. Sup- 
posing, then, that having gained a certain altitude, the 
sun should stop in its course for an hour, let us say — this 
would be a miracle, because contrary to its accustomed 
order. Again, if a sick man, pronounced incurable by 
the medical faculty, should, by the simple use of water 
devoid of all medicinal properties, instantly recover his 
health— this, too, would be a miracle. 

But in the name of common sense, my friends, who 
has established the natural order? Who preserves 
and directes it ? Is it not God the Creator ? And if 
God has freely established this order, and has given it 
laws, do you mean to say that He cannot change this 
order — suspend, abolish or modify these laws in certain 
cases which in His divine mind warrant such a course? 
* * * Excuse me, my friends, for saying that with 
all your philosophy, you have a very low estimate of the 
Creator — that supreme, self-existent Being, absolute, 
independent, omnipotent and infinite in all His perfec- 
tions. An artificer who has done a certain work— let 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 95 

us say a clockmaker, who has made a time-piece, is free 
to change it, modify its workings, and give it a new 
form, if he wish: cannot the first and independent Arti- 
ficer do the same with His works ? Nay, for stronger 
reasons can the divine Architect modify the works of 
His hands, for by so doing He changes not at all His 
eternal decrees ; because, although He has established 
the laws of nature ab eterno, He has also decreed in the 
very same moment to derogate from them in certain 
circumstances, in order to manifest His glory and 
power. God, says St. Augustine, changes His works, 
but never His decrees. 

And again, my friends, how do you explain the appa- 
ritions recorded in the Holy Bible ? Are they also im- 
possible ? 

For the present let us pass over every other argument 
in proof of the possibility of miracles and apparitions. 
I place you standing here, skeptical gentlemen, to con- 
sider the facts of Lourdes. If supernatural apparitions 
are impossible, how do you explain those of Lourdes ? 

"Easily done. It was a comedy in eighteen acts, 
planned by Bernadette's parents for their own benefit; 
and their deceitful little girl was the actress." 

Indeed! Bernadette a cheating impostor? How 
then explain the simplicity, the candor, the modesty, so 
much admired in this little child? While every one 
speaks of the wonders revealed to her, she alone is 
silent. She speaks not, except when interrogated. She 
then relates everything without affectation, and with 
wonderful candor. To the numerous questions put her 
she gives without hesitation, answers precise and to the 
purpose— the product, doubtless, of strong conviction. 
The most sagacious and able Commissary of Police, in 



96 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

an interview of over an hour, succeeds not in catching 
her in a contradiction ; nor is he able to perplex her, 
or confuse her ideas, or force from her a retractation 
even with the threats of imprisonment, as M. Estrade 
testifies. The Cure threatens her with hell-fire if she is 
lying in so grave a matter. The Imperial Procurator 
submits her to a long series of interrogatories ; but all 
in vain. Eecourse is also had to magnetism ; but this 
succeeds in nothing except in causing the poor child a 
violent headache. She is examined by the Episcopal 
Commission, and is found ingenuously simple, modest 
and sincerely frank. And have you forgotten, skeptical 
gentlemen, that Bernadette was then a poor shepherd- 
ess — ignorant, unlettered, brought up amid the Pyrenees 
with the lambs she led to pasture ; that she spoke a 
vulgar dialect, and knew not the national language? 
Do you find cheating actresses like her on the moun- 
tains? 

Further, let us tell the reader, for the benefit of the 
skeptics, that the explanation— namely, that Bernadette 
was a cheat and an impostor, did not keep its ground at 
Lourdes twenty-four hours. People spoke with her, 
and said they had seen great actresses at Paris, and 
that art was a different thing. All did homage to her 
sincerity. 

But resume the skeptics : " It was the parents that 
trained her up for their own benefit." 

Skeptical gentlemen, let me answer with facts. A 
certain gentleman having gone to visit her, offered her 

purse full of gold. But Bernadette blushed with in- 
dignation, and refused the money. " I want nothing, 
sir," said she; "take home your money." 

" But it is not for you, my child, it is for your parents 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 97 

who are in want ; and you cannot prevent me from help- 
ing them." 

" Neither Bernadette nor we wish for anything," re- 
plied the parents. 

" Ton are poor," persisted the unknown man ; " I have 
put you to great inconvenience, and I am interested in 
you. Is it then through pride you refuse my offer ?" 

" No, sir ; but we absolutely decline to receive any- 
thing. Take your money away." 

Skeptical men, you know who sent this unknown per- 
son to the Soubirous family. Dear, reader, I must tell 
you, by way of parenthesis, he was sent by the skep- 
tical police. 

A strange family, who were very wealthy, became en-, 
amored of Bernadette, as was the case with all who 
happened to get into her company, and proposed to 
adopt her, offering her parents one hundred thousand 
francs, and the privilege of living with their daughter : 
but both she and they refused. 

A lady, having learned of the misery in which the 
Soubirous family were situated, one day dropped two 
pieces of gold into Bernadette's pocket. But she quickly 
picked them out, and restored them to the lady with an 
air of offended dignity. 

" But, my child," said the lady, " are not your parents 
very poor ? Sometimes you have net bread enough in the 
house?" 

Ah ! Madam," said Bernadette, " I have not always 
enough, but very little does me." 

On another occasion, a priest greatly moved by her 
condition, offered her a silver coin. She refused. He 
insisted ; she still declined the donation. The priest at 
ast said: "Please take it; it will be not for you, but for 



98 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

the poor. Then you shall have the pleasure of giving 
an alms." 

" Give the alms yourself, Rev. Father, according to 
my intention ; it will be better thus," replied Berna- 
dette. 

And now, skeptics of Lourdes, you who were on the 
spot know well, and can tell others, and so can 1, too, 
that Bernadette's family was so very poor as often to 
be in want of the simple necessaries of life. And in 
point of fact, a pious young girl, who had made her 
first Communion with Bernadette, and was on intimate 
terms with her, told me, on the 3d of last July, in Lour- 
des, that she had often given her a piece of bread to 
satiate hunger. My God ! How admirable you are in 
your ways ! 

Skeptics, what have you to say ? Was it self interest 
that urged Bernadette's parents to invent the " Comedy" 
of the apparitions at the Grotto, as you are pleased to 
style the fact? They are now dead; and they died 
poor, as they had lived. Mary, sister to Bernadette, is 
married to a miller ; the elder brother, J. Maria, has 
entered the Society of the Christian Brothers, and the 
youngest brother has been placed by the Missionaries 
of Lourdes in the Institution of Our Lady of Garaison, 
(Laf. p. 231). 

The accusation, namely, that Bernadette had been in 
collusion with the clergy to act this part, we will not 
discuss here ; we refer the reader to the tenth chapter 
of this u second part." 

But, urge the skeptics, granting that Bernadette was 
sincere and truthful, still the apparitions at Lourdes 
are not proved, because she was under the influence of 
hallucination ; she believed she saw, but did not see ; 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 99 

and heard, but did not hear. The ecstacies were not 
impostures, nor the product of art on her part ; they 
were the effect of sickness, catalepsy, a disordered brain, 
and a disturbed state of the nerves and muscles. You 
will see that within one month the poor visionary shall 
be completely crazy and probably paralytic. 

We reply. You, skeptics, say that Bernadette was in a 
state of hallucination ; but have you ever seen another 
case like this ? Do you believe it ? " The wisdom of her 
answers," writes the Bishop of Tarbes, in his pastoral 
of approbation regarding the apparitions, "reveals in this 
child a sound mind, a calm imagination, and an intelli- 
gence beyond her years. Religious sentiment has never 
produced in her a character of self-exaltation, nor super- 
induced a disordered intellect, or aberration of the 
senses, or feelings of pride, or morbid affections that 
might probably have disposed her to become the victim 
of imaginary creations. She saw the vision, not only 
once, but eighteen times. The first time she saw it sud- 
denly, and without being prepared for such an occur- 
rence ; and during the fifteen days, although she daily 
expected the vision, still, on two of those days, she did 
not see it though she was in the same place, and in 
identical circumstances. And again, what happened 
during the apparitions ? A wonderful transformation 
was worked in her. Her face assumed a new expres- 
sion ; her countenance was lit up with brightness ; she 
saw things she had never seen before, and heard a new 
language, whose signification she did not always under- 
stand, but which she still remembers. Such a concur- 
rence of circumstances does not allow the possibility of 
hallucination." 

But it is all the effect of catalepsy. Do you say so ? 



100 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

I must ask you, skeptics, are you physicians ? If you 
are, then hear one of your colleagues. You are not ? 
Do you believe in physicians skilled in their art ? Then 
here is how the matter stands : Divine Providence was 
pleased to place at Lourdes, on the very site, and at the 
very time of the apparitions, a doctor, of high standing 
in the medical faculty, and perfectly disinterested — a 
man, too, who at first did not believe hi them, but who 
still undertook to study them attentively. He, too, had 
heard the report from the skeptics that Bernadette 
could possibly be subject to fits of catalepsy, and wished 
to ascertain the real fact. Wherefore, with great incon- 
venience to himself, he makes it his business to be 
present at the apparitions; now hear how he speaks of 
them in his beautiful book — La Grotte de Lourdes — Sa 
fontaine et ses guerisons: " I, who have followed with 
great attention all the movements of Bernadette, in order 
to study her completely under many points of view, have 
been able to ascertain the state of the circulation of her 
blood, and of her respiration. I took hold of her arm, 
and placed my finger on the radial artery. Her pulse 
was tranquil and regular, her respiration, easy; nothing 
indicated to me over-excitement of the nerves, which, 
did it exist, would have acted in a particular manner on 
her whole organism. There is no question, then, of cat- 
alepsy, with its rigidity, or of hallucination in the case." 
And by way of epigraph he says: " / have believed be- 
cause I have seen, and therefore, have I spoken.'" 

In one month she will be completely crazy and probably 
paralytic ? Yery well ; a month, and two months ; one 
year, and eighteen years have passed away. Bernadette 
was asthmetic before the apparitions, and has remained 
so after them. But she always was sound of mind, and 
continues so to this day. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 101 

And now, skeptics, free thinkers, rationalists, philoso- 
phers, learned scientists, what is your opinion ? Berna- 
dette is truthful and well informed; and therefore, she 
is not deceived herself, nor does she wish to deceive 
others. She has all the marks that appertain to testi- 
mony worthy of faith ; and she testifies as we have 
demonstrated, upon a possible fact. How can you hesi- 
tate to believe its reality ? How refuse credence to this 
truth — namely, that Bernadette has really seen eighteen 
times a person who called herself the Immaculate Con- 
ception. This is what she testified to ; and we have 
proved it, as was our duty as a historian. Now, then, 
the fact is supernatural because it bears divine fruit. 

In fine, dear reader, in order to form a proper esti- 
mate of these skeptics — these would-be-called philoso- 
phers — hear what happened to them at Lourdes. 

On the 25th of February, a fountain sprung up be- 
neath the hands of the little girl while in ecstacy, and 
its volume was increasing from day to day. Still the 
skeptics audaciously undertook to deny the fact. " There 
never was a fountain there," they said. " It is a puddle 
formed by some accidental infiltration, and discovered 
by the merest chance when Bernadette scraped up the 
clay." 

"It is only a pretence that water is running there," 
ventured another. 

"By no means " he was answered, "we have been to 
see it ; it is a dirty mire, and nothing else." 

Silly brains, so bewildered with prejudice, would it 
be so much trouble for them to go back to see the foun- 
tain ? In a quarter of an hour they could have reached 
it, and so have seen that if on the 25th of February, 
the fountain was only a mud-puddle, its stream in- 



102 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

creased, every day from that date. But the skeptics do 
not examine the fact ; they reject it directly. And then, 
they call it a puddle — a dirty mire : a fountain that dis- 
charges 122,400 quarts of water a day. Yet these men 
are called strong minds, free thinkers, rationalists, philos 
ophers, learned, scientists. But where do they exhibit 
sound criticism ? Where, good logic ? 

Moreover, the very same day on which the fountain 
sprung up, the cures, too, commenced. Louis Bourriette, 
as we have mentioned, having bathed his almost sight- 
less eye with the water of the fountain, was instantly 
healed. The skeptics, gathering in the cafes, talked 
the matter over, giving it all manner of colorings. * * * 
One said that Bourriette was not cured at all ; another, 
that his eye had never been afflicted; while a third, of 
the school of Benan, said that he only imagines that he 
is cured, and thinks he sees. A physiologist present 
said, that the imagination, betimes, works with wonder- 
ful influence upon the nerves. * * * " Bourriette does 
not even exist," lustily asserted a new comer, more 
radical than the rest. * * * Do you see, dear reader, 
how the rationalists employ their reason ? Vile wretches 
that they are, I say to them: go test the truth of the 
fact, even now. Does it cost so much ? Pass one mo- 
ment in Bourriette's company, and he will tell you that 
for twenty years he had not had good sight in one of 
his eyes, in consequence of a hurt he had received in the 
mines ; all Lourdes knows it to be the case. Let them 
ask Dr. Dozous, who has attended the patient. Let 
them have his eye examined by any physician, and let 
them look at him well. He does not even exist ? What 
a pity Bourriette did not enter the cafe at the moment, 
and prove by his presence, his physical existence to the 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 103 

skeptics who had denied it. A stunning stroke of his 
powerful arm would probably be the only persuasive 
argument with this class of men. 

Moreover, do they not confess their discomfiture by 
the very fact of recurring to the Syndic to have a decree 
issued prohibiting all persons to go to the Grotto to get 
" water from the miraculous fountain ? And, in truth, if 
all the cures were only imaginary, and if all the facts 
recorded of the Grotto were only superstitions, why not 
let the whole matter die out naturally ? It is well known 
that superstitions, and falsehoods, and errors, last only 
for a day, and then die, as Cicero says: Opinionum 
commenta dekt dies. 

The skeptics further said that the water of the Grotto 
was medicinal; but this question we will examine in 
the fifth chapter. Let us now make the following 

MEDITATION. 

I. Consider the substance of the sin of heresy. Lay- 
ing aside theological subtleties, we understand with the 
Church that heresy "is a voluntary and pertinacious 
error against some Catholic truth." We have called it 
in the first place an error, and this has place when any 
truth of faith is denied— as, for example, the possibility 
of miracles, or supernatural apparitions ; the existence 
of hell or purgatory ; the eternity of the pains of the 
damned. In the second place, it is voluntary— that is 
to say, committed with advertence and deliberation. 
Hence, the error of those who are deceived in believing 
that a certain dogma of faith has never been defined as 
such, would not be heresy. In the third place, it must 
be pertinacious ; and this has place when a certain opin- 
ion, well known to be contrary to the teaching of the 



104 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Church, is still defended and professed. In the fourth 
place, it must be against some Catholic truth — that is to 
say, a truth revealed by God, and proposed as such by 
the Church. Hence we see that the skeptics who deny 
the apparitions of Lourdes are not on that account 
heretics, because they have not been defined by the 
Church as truths of faith ; while, on the contrary, those 
are heretics who deny the possibility of miracles in 
general, because this is a truth defined by the Church. 
And, reader, how are your sentiments on this matter of 
heresy ? Do you pertinaciously deny any truth of faith ? 

II. Consider the malice of heresy. As we believe, 
and ought to believe truths of faith, because revealed 
by God, for by believing them, we also believe Him ; so 
by denying one article of faith, we deny the infallibility 
of God, and therefore will not admit that He cannot de- 
ceive or be deceived. Oh ! how enormous then must be 
the sin of heresy ! How injurious to God ! You are 
offended, and with reason, if a person does not believe 
you. How comes it, ,you say, or at least think so in 
your heart, that you will not believe me? What do 
you take me to be ? For an audacious liar ? * * * 
And still every man is a liar, as the royal prophet says 
(Pslm. cxv. 2). But, on the contrary, God is truth. He 
is most perfect and holy. * * * Have you reflected 
on this ? 

III. Consider the evils caused by the sin of heresy. 
First, it robs a man of the true faith, because it saps its 
foundation, and therefore renders it impossible for one to 
please God, as St. Paul says (Heb. ii. 6). And, again, 
speaking of the heretics of his time, the same Apostle 
says distinctly that they have made shipwreck concern- 
ing the faith (Tim. I., ep. i. ch. 19). Secondly, it conse- 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 105 

quently excludes from paradise, and sends a soul to hell, 
because it is a mortal sin. Thirdly, by reason of it one 
incurs the greater excommunication which is specially 
reserved to the Pope. O what evils ! * . * * Do you 
think of .this? * * ■-* Examine your conscience dili- 
gently, and take counsel of a pious and learned con- 
fessor. 

Practice. — Renew your faith by reciting from your 
heart the formula given in your prayer-book, and say 
three Aves to the Most Holy Virgin, for the conversion 
of heretics. 

Ejaculation. — I believe, O Lord; help my unbelief! 
(Mace. ix. 23.) 



CHAPTER III. 

The Police of Lourdes. 
In vain do the machinations of men offer resistance to the coun- 
sels of Divine Providence. (Pius IX., Brief to M. H. Lasserre.) 

Seeing that, notwithstanding their scoffs and sar- 
casms, the fame of the apparitions and the miracles was 
increasing more and more, and that immense crowds 
were gathering at the Grotto, the skeptics united in 
urging the Syndic of Lourdes to issue a decree, pro- 
hibiting all access to the rocks of Massabielle, which 
were a part of the common. Such a decree, thought 
they, will surely be violated by the popular passion, 
and will be the occasion of countless legal proceedings ; 
resistance will be offered by the people, and they shall 
be arrested, and the civil authority — whether the judi- 
ciary, the police, or the administrative department — will 
easily have cause to deal summarily with the whole 
proceedings, because it shall be sustained by all the 
powers of the State. 



106 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

M. Anselm Lacade was then Syndic of Lourdes. He 
was an upright and excellent man, though perhaps a little 
timid, and somewhat ambitiously attached to his badge 
of office. He refused to issue the decree, saying that 
amid so many reports he knew not where the truth lay. 
" There are no disturbances," he said ; " the religious 
phase of the question — namely, the determining the 
truth or falsity of the apparitions belongs to the Bishop, 
and in its administrative point of view it falls within the 
Prefect's sphere of action. As for me, I will stand 
aloof, and will not act in the capacity of Syndic, ex- 
cept with express orders from the Prefect." And he 
shaped his conduct accordingly. 

If, however, the civil administrative authority of 
Lourdes did not take action in the case, not so did the 
Police, who, at the time, were presided over by a Com- 
missary named M. Dominic Jacomet, a man of great 
sagacity, and who was much quicker at detecting rogues 
and imposters than in discerning the hand of God in 
things human. He believed, it is said, that super- 
natural apparitions were impossible, and that those 
recorded of Lourdes were an imposture well arranged 
probably by the priests, who, nevertheless, kept cau- 
tiously away from the Grotto. And so he imagined 
that by detecting fraud in this case, he could deal a 
mortal blow to all the apparitions of the past. 

Firm in his opinion, he had had, from the very first 
days of the apparitions, caused all Bernadette's paths 
to be carefully watched, in order to detect her in mys- 
terious communication with some priest of Lourdes, or 
of the neighboring towns. He had placed — at least it 
seems so — in the very church one of his minions to 
watch the confessional : but Bernadette appeared not 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 107 

at the tribunal of penance. Well, then, perhaps the 
priests had got nothing to do with the matter ; — it was 
the little girl herself alone who, perchance, was acting 
this comedy for her own benefit. Nevertheless, there 
might be others mixed up in the matter, as he surmised, 
but his suspicions were based upon no proof. This man 
was indeed a regular type of a true Commissary of 
Police. 

On Sunday, the 21st of February, as Bernadette, in 
company with others, was leaving church after the 
evening devotions had terminated, a police officer ap- 
proached her, and touching her on the shoulder, said, 
" In the name of the law." 

" What do you want of me ?" asked the little girl, 
very much frightened. 

" I have orders to arrest you." 

" From whom ?" 

" From the Commissary of Police." 

Immediately a threatening murmur burst forth from 
the multitude. Many of them had been spectators of 
her ecstacies, and, therefore, in their eyes Bernadette 
was a child of God. Wherefore, on seeing the officer 
lay hands on the little girl, did they shout with indigo 
nation, and resolve to interfere. Fortunately a priest, 
who happened, on leaving the church, to notice the oc- 
currence, made a sign to them to keep still, telling them 
to let the officer have his way : and the multitude, all 
aglow with agitation, followed Bernadette under arrest, 
as far as the Commissariate of Police, which was near 
by. The officer entered with the child, and ushering 
her into the corridor, locked the doors. In a little while 
Bernadette was before the Commissary, while the im- 
mense concourse of people remained outside. 



108 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

M. Jacomet for a moment fixed upon the girl his 
sharp, scrutinizing eyes, to which he had the wonder- 
ful faculty of imparting, in an instant, an expression of 
benevolence of the most tender kind. He who had 
habitually used commanding tones with everybody, was 
more than gentle with the daughter of the miller, 
Soubirous. He was sweet and insinuating. He re- 
quested her to take a seat ; and while interrogating her, 
assumed the affectionate air of a true friend. 

" It seems you see a beautiful Lady at the Grotto of 
Massabielle, my pretty little girl ? Is it so ? Tell me 
all." 

Just then the door opened gently and M. Estrade, 
the tax collector, entered. He was one of the most 
estimable and intelligent gentlemen in Lourdes, and at 
this time gave no credit to the apparitions. He lived 
in the same house with the Commissary, and having 
learned from the acclamations of the people outside that 
Bernadette was before the dignitary, he had the most 
natural curiosity to be present at the examination. He 
took a seat near by, and made a sign to the Commis- 
sary that he would not cause any interruption. All this 
passed without Bernadette seeming to notice it. Thus 
there was a witness, who took notes of the interview at 
the time, and some years later gave them to M. Las- 
serre, the historian of the Madonna of Lourdes, who 
was thus enabled to verify the account given by Berna- 
dette. 

On being interrogated by the Commissary, Berna- 
dette looked at him with a sweet, innocent gaze, and 
commenced, with apparent timidity, which added some- 
what to her veracious utterances, to relate in her native 
dialect the wonderful events which had engaged her for 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 109 

some days past. M. Jacomet listened to her very at- 
tentively, assuming, at the same time, an air of benevo- 
lence and kindly feeling. From time to time he took 
notes of her testimony. 

The child observed him, but heeded little what he 
did. When she had finished her narration the Com- 
missary, with still more sweetness and eagerness, put 
her questions to no end, as if, indeed, his enthusiastic 
piety had caused him to become interested beyond 
measure, in these extraordinary occurrences. He for- 
mulated all his interrogatories without regard to order, 
inserting here and there short phrases in a hurried way, 
so as not to give the child time to reflect. But to 
his various questions she replied without the slightest 
shadow of confusion or hesitation, and with the tran- 
quil certainty of one describing the appearance of a 
well known landscape, or of a familiar picture. Often, 
in order to make him better understand, she used ges- 
tures, thereby to supplement, as it were, with panto- 
mime the impotence of speech. 

Meantime the rapid pen of Jacomet had noted down 
all her answers. And then it was that, after having en- 
deavored so to tire out and confound the child's mind 
by subjecting her to the minutest details of circum- 
stances, that this terrible police agent suddenly as- 
sumed a threatening aspect, and an uncouth manner of 
address. 

" You are telling lies," he exclaimed, in a violent, an- 
gry tone ; " you are deceiving the people, and if you do 
not instantly confess the truth, I shall have you arrested 
by the police." 

Poor Bernadette, on seeing this sudden and formid- 
able metamorpheses, was as much amazed as if, thmk- 



110 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

ing she was holding in her hands a branch of a tree, she 
had on a sudden felt shocked and horror-stricken by 
the appearance of a snake entwining her fingers in its 
slimy coils. She was struck with astonishment ; but 
contrary to the expectations of the Commissary, she did 
not loose her presence of mind, but remained calm and 
collected as if some invisible power had supported her 
under the embarrassment of this unexpected shock. 
The Commissary immediately stood up, and looked at 
the door, thereby giving her to understand that only a 
signal from him was needed and the police would be on 
hand to take her to prison. 

" Sir," said Bernadette, with a calm and sweet firm- 
ness, which, in this poor little peasant girl, was simply 
grand and incomparable — "sir, you can have me arrested 
by the police, but I cannot say anything contrary to 
what I have stated. I have told the truth." 

" That is what we have to see," replied the Commis- 
sary, resuming his seat, and judging with one glance of 
his practiced eye, that threats were powerless with this 
extraordinary child. 

M. Estrade, a silent and impartial witness of the 
scene, was divided between the astonishment occasioned 
by the accents of Bernadette so full of self-conviction, 
and the wonder with which, despite himself, the able 
strategy of Jacomet had struck him according as he saw 
its full bearing develop itself. 

The contest now assumed an unexpected character 
between Jaeomet's redoubled force of finesse and the 
girlish weakness of Bernadette, having no defense ex- 
cept her own simplicity. 

Jacomet, armed with the notes of three quarters of 
an hour, resumed his interrogatories, but in quite a dif- 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 111 

ferent order. He threw fchem into a thousand captious 
forms, proceeding always, as was his custom, in a quick 
and rapid way, and insisting on immediate answers. He 
felt sure, by this line of proceeding, to catch the girl in 
contradiction, at least upon some small particular. This 
once effected, imposture would have been detected, and 
he would have become master of the situation. But in 
vain did he reveal all his mental anxiety in the multi- 
plex evolutions of skillful manoeuvre. The child did 
not contradict herself in the least. To the same ques- 
tions, under whatever form put, she gave the same an- 
swers — if not the same in words, certainly identical in 
meaning. Jacomet became still more obstinate, if for 
no other reason, at least to tire out the little mind he 
wished to catch in error. He twisted her narrative of 
the apparitions into every possible style of diction with- 
out being able to shake her evidence. He felt like an 
enraged beast that would, in order to satiate its venom, 
fain grind up a diamond. 

" Very well," said he in fine to Bernadette ; " I will 
now write the verbal process, and then read it to you." 
And he wrote two or three pages rapidly, consulting his 
notes, and making in some particular places a few slight 
changes— as, for example, the form of the Virgin's dress, 
and the length and position of her veil. This was a new 
plan— but useless as the others. He read to her these 
slight alterations in her testimony, and asked her from 
time to time if such were not the case. But Bernadette 
replied humbly, but with a firmness simple and sweet 
as it was resistless. . . . " No," she would say, " I have 
not said so. But this is what I have said "—and thus 
re-established all the distorted circumstances in their 
primitive truthfulness. Many times Jacomet contested 



112 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

the case, saying to her : " But you have said this. I 
wrote it down at the very moment. You have related 
the matter thus to many persons in the city.' , * * * But 
Bernadette insisted that she had not spoken so ; and 
that she could not have given such an account to any 
one, because it was not the truth. Thus the Commis- 
sary was always forced to yield to the child. 

He next turned to use threats. * * * " If you con- 
tinue," he said, "to go to the Grotto, I will have you 
imprisoned, and you shall not leave here until you 
promise me that you will not go there again." 

" I have promised the Vision to go," replied Berna- 
dette, and when the moment arrives I am impelled 
thither by some unknown power that takes possession 
of me." 

The examination lasted over an hour. Outside the 
multitude became restless and impatient. The excite- 
ment increased, and was beginning to assume a threat- 
ening aspect. Frequent knocks were heard at the 
door. The Commissary did not stir. The knocks be- 
came more violent. The man who was rapping shook 
the door, and endeavored to force it. Jacomet, en- 
raged, stood up and opened the door. " No admission," 
he said, angrily, " what do you want ?" 

" I want my daughter," replied the miller, Soubirous, at 
the same time forcing his way in search of his child. 
The expression of the child's face calmed the anxious 
agitation of the father, who was only a poor man in 
presence of the most important personage in the town. 

Francis Soubirous had taken off his cap * *, and 
was twirling it in his hands. Jacomet, who let nothing 
slip by unnoticed, divined the miller's fears, and assum- 
ing an air of good nature and compassion, familiarly 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 113 

tapped him on the shoulder, saying : " Father Soubir- 
ous, be careful ! Be careful ! Be careful ! Your daughter 
is after making a bad job, and is going directly to pris- 
on. I will not send her this time, on condition that you 
prohibit her going to the Grotto where she is playing a 
comedy. If she transgress again I will be inflexible; 
and you know, moreover, that the imperial Procurator 
does not joke." 

"As you wish it, Mr. Jacomet," replied the poor 
father struck with alarm, "I will prohibit her, and so 
will her mother, too ; and I feel sure that as she has 
always obeyed us, she will not go there any more." 

" In any case, if she goes there again — if this scandal 
continues, I will have her and you arrested," said the 
terrible Commissary assuming a threatening attitude, and 
dismissing them both with a gesture. 

As soon as Bernadette and her father went out, the 
crowd was heard to shout with the greatest satisfaction. 
The child went home with her father, and the crowd 
dispersed through the city. 

The Commissary of Police and the Beceiver, being now 
alone, commenced to relate one to the other, their im- 
pressions of this strange interview. 

"What resistless firmness in her depositions," ex- 
claimed M. Estrade, in profound astonishment. 

"What invincible obstinacy in lying," answered 
Jacomet, astonished at his defeat. 

"What truthful accents," continued the Beceiver. 
" Not even once has she made a mistake in her words, 
or gestures. It is evident she believes she has seen the 
vision." 

" What flexibility of intelligence," replied the Commis- 
sary " She has not contradicted herself in a tittle, not- 



114 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

withstanding all my efforts. She has her story on the 
tips of her fingers." 

And thus, both remained incredulous regarding the 
apparitions, but from motives directly opposite : one 
believed Bernadette an able impostor ; the other, that 
she was truthful, but still deceived. 

We must mention that M. Estrade, after having wit- 
nessed Bernadette's ecstacies, changed his opinion, and 
firmly believed ; nay, more, aided the knowledge of the 
reality and truth of the apparitions by sending his de- 
positions in writing, to M. Lasserre while engaged on 
his history. 

M. Jacomet, though vanquished, had still gained a 
signal advantage : he had frightened the father, who, as 
soon as he had reached home, said to Bernadette: " You 
see that these gentlemen of the town are all against us ; 
and that Mr. Jacomet, who can do whatever he likes, 
will have us all put in prison if you return to the Grotto. 

" Father," replied Bernadette, " when I go there, it is 
not altogether of my own free will. At a certain moment 
I feel something within me that calls and draws me 
there." 

" However it be," replied the father, "I strictly for- 
bid you to go there again. Certainly you will not dis- 
obey me now, for the first time in your life." 

The poor child, finding herself thus placed in a di- 
lemma, between the promise made to the Apparition and 
the prohibition of her father, replied : " I will do all that 
is possible to keep away from there, and to resist the 
attractive power that calls me." 

And in fact, on the following day, Monday, the 22d of 
February, she did not go to the Grotto, though she very 
much desired it, but to school; and if towards noon, 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 115 

while on her way homeward, she went there, it was not 
of her own accord ; she was brought there by that re- 
sistless power mentioned in a previous chapter. Having 
acquainted her father of the fact he withdrew his pro- 
hibition. 

But meantime, the terrible Commissary, having seen 
that his prohibitions had been violated, and that Francis 
Soubirous had again given his daughter permission to 
go to the Grotto, had on that same day, the father, 
mother and child cited before him, and resorted again to 
intimidation. But, to his great surprise, he did not 
find before him now the terror-stricken miller of the 
preceding day. 

"M. Jacomet," said the poor man, "Bernadette has 
never told a lie ; and if the good God, the Holy Virgin, 
or any Saint, calls her, we cannot oppose her. Put 
yourself in our position, M. Commissary : the good God 
would certainly punish us !" 

" You yourself say," argued Jacomet, casting a glance 
on the child, " that the Vision does not appear any 
more. Therefore, you have no further business at the 
Grotto." 

" I have promised to go every day for a fortnight," 
replied Bernadette. 

" They are all fables," exclaimed the Commissary, in a 
rage. I shall have you all put in prison if this girl con- 
tinues to excite the people with her mockeries." 

" My God," exclaimed Bernadette, " I go to pray 
alone, and do not invite any one. And if so many per- 
sons go there before and after me, it is not my fault. 
People have said that it is the Holy Virgin appears ; 
but I do not know who she is." 

Accustomed as he was to the repartee and evasive 



116 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

answers of criminals, the Police Commissary was con- 
fused by this profound simplicity. Still, the thought 
never entered his mind that he was wrong, and that the 
apparitions were true ; and instead of ceasing to oppose 
the free course of things, he resolved to call to his aid 
the authority of the judiciary. * * * " Indeed," he ex- 
claimed, stamping the floor with his foot, " this is a 
stupid business." And allowing the Soubirous family 
to return home, he went himself to take council of the 
imperial Procurator. 

But let us rest here, and make this 

MEDITATION. 

I. Consider in what consists the crime of impugning the 
known truth. It consists in a diabolical obstinacy, and 
daring malice in denying and studiedly combating any 
truth of faith — for example, the possibility of miracles. 
Men of this stamp are to be met with, who, although 
evidently knowing the truth, still deny it, and argue 
against it — not through ignorance, or passion, or a love 
of having truth triumph, but through a terrible perver- 
sity of mind. This was the sin of the Jews who, although 
witnesses of the miracles of Jesus Christ, which were 
more than sufficient to prove evidently the divinity of 
His mission, still did not believe His words. * * * Have 
you anything to reproach yourself with in this regard ? 
Eeflect. * * * 

II, Consider the injury this sin does the Holy Ghost. 
When one sins through weakness, it is said that he sins 
against the Father, to whom power is attributed ; when 
through ignorance, against the Son, to whom is assigned 
wisdom; but when through malice, against the Holy 
Ghost, to whom is given the attribute of goodness. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 117 

Moreover, there are certain sins so grave and enormous 
that they are called in a special manner, sins against the 
Holy Ghost; and one of these is to impugn the known 
truth, because a man who impugns and combats the 
known tru fch, resists it, and refuses adhesion to it through 
malice, directly offends the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of 
Truth. * * * Oh ! what a heinous sin ! Do you reflect 
on this ? 

III. Consider the consequence of impugning the known 
truth. They are first, a hardness of heart produced by 
the abuse of God's grace ; second, the greatest difficulty 
in becoming converted, superinduced by perversity of 
will, and obstinacy in opposing the truth ; thirdly, the 
consequent risk of eternal damnation, according to what 
our Lord says in the Gospel : He that shall speak 
against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him 
neither in this world, nor in the world to come. (Math, 
xii. 32.) What a misfortune! What a serious evil! 
How terrible ! And still how many impugn the well- 
known truths of Catholic faith ! 

Practice — Recite the Veni Creator for all the enemies 
of Catholic truth. 

Ejaculation — O Lord ! take not thy Holy Spirit from 
me. 



CHAPTEE IV. 

The Prefect of the High Pyrenees in 1858. 

1 < He that is not with me is against me : and he that gathereth not 
with me, scattereth." (Luc. xi. 23.) 

We have assisted at the combat of the works of God 
at Lourdes with the opposition party of good faith, and 



118 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

have seen them illuminated with light divine, and finally 
placed on the high road to recognition and veneration. 
We have contemplated them engaged in strife with the 
skeptics, only to witness the defeat of these scoffers, 
and see them unmasked. We have closely observed 
them at issue with the police, without their having 
yielded an inch to these functionaries. Still, the oppo- 
sition has not ceased : they have next to contend against 
what we term the opposition party of bad faith. 

M. Dominick Jacomet, the Commissary of Police, 
having on the evening of the 22d of February, dismissed 
the Soubirous family, went off in all haste to M. Dutour, 
who was at the time Imperial Procurator. This man, 
notwithstanding his habitual horror of superstitions, 
was not able to discover in the arsenal of French law- 
books a single point on which to base a legal process 
against the child. If she had been caught any day 
in contradiction, proceedings could be taken against 
her as a propagator of false reports ; if she, or her 
parents, had received any pecuniary profit, a suit could 
be entered on the grounds of fraud ; if, in fine, any dis- 
order had arisen among the crowds of people that 
flocked to the rocks of Massabielle, then this nascent 
superstition could be smothered on the grounds of pre- 
serving the public peace. But none of these things 
had occurred. All proceedings were therefore illegal. 
Jacomet, however, was not a man to retrace his steps, 
and, we must candidly tell it, he resolved then and 
there, to create an occasion for a process. Incredible, 
but still true. 

It was he who, on the following day, sent the un- 
known man to Bernadette's house to offer her and her 
parents the purse of gold ; but to his great confusion 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 119 

and mortification the money was rejected, as we have 
seen ; and so an occasion for proceedings did not offer 
itself. Then he informed the Prefectorate of Tarbes — 
under whose jurisdiction Lourdes was, of the fact, giv- 
ing it, however, the coloring of his own views. 

Baron Oscar Massy, a Catholic of the so-called inde- 
pendent type, was Prefect of the High Pyrenees at the 
time. He professed a belief in the miracles recorded 
in the Holy Bible, but in none others. According to 
him there were no miracles nor supernatural occur- 
rences in our days ; nor should there be, because they 
were no longer necessary. Wherefore, he was quick to 
form a judgment and to pronounce it : the facts record- 
ed of Lourdes are superstitions ; therefore, they must 
be checked. And often he said, too : " If I had been 
prefect of the department of the Isere at the time of 
the pretended apparitions of La Salette, I would have 
settled with that legend, as I shall soon do with that of 
Lourdes. All these creations of fancy will soon fall to 
nothing." 

Poor, simple man ! Who could have told him that 
the facts of Lourdes would have triumphed, and that 
before the year had closed he would have been trans- 
ferred to the department of the Isere. But let us not 
anticipate events. 

After all, as Prefect his administration was one of 
marked ability. At a glance he judged a situation. 
What a pity that this ease and promptness of action 
sometimes caused him to make mistakes : still he had 
the grave defect of not recognizing his errors ; and he 
was never known to go back on a resolution once 
formed, whether it regarded an idea or a fact. 

Up to this time he had lived not only in peace, but 



120 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

in cordial harmony with the Bishop of Tarbes, Mon- 
signor Bertrand Severe Laurence. Nevertheless, with- 
out waiting for the decision of the Bishop, to whom 
alone it belonged to decide, as the question was a reli- 
gious one, he, having got information from Jacomet in 
whom he placed blind reliance, wrote about the first of 
March to the Syndic of Lourdes to notify the com- 
mander of the fortress to place the troops of the garri- 
son at his disposal, and have them ready for any 
emergency. Armed soldiers were to watch the Grotto 
day and night, and the local gendarmery and police 
officials were to give their aid. And this indeed was 
done to provoke, as people said openly, some remon- 
strance on the part of the immense multitude — some out- 
burst, in order to have a pretext for criminal proceed- 
ings. But the people remained quiet, and the cara- 
binieri, the guards and the soldiers themselves pre- 
served a sympathetic and religious attitude. 

About the 12th and 26th of March, he referred the 
case to the Minister, confining himself to the measures of 
which we have spoken, until he should receive an an- 
swer. 

M. Bouland, formerly Procurator-General, and now 
director of the Bank of France, filled at the time the 
united offices of Minister of Worship and that of Public 
Instruction under Napoleon III. To say nothing regard- 
ing other points, the Minister did not believe one par- 
ticle in the miracles and apparitions of Lourdes, and 
therefore came to an immediate conclusion without the 
slightest examination or reflection. Accordingly on the 
12th of April he replied to the Prefect saying, " that it 
was his opinion that a stop should be put to these super- 
stitions ; that according to law no one could establish 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 121 

an oratory, or a public place of worship without the two- 
fold authority of the civil and the ecclesiastical power ; 
that, therefore, it was right to close the Grotto, in as 
much as it had been transformed into a species of 
capella : but still, this was a question of prudence and 
tact ; that, in fine, he should act in concert with the 
Bishop of Tarbes, and that he authorized him to tell 
the Bishop in his name, that he had been advised not 
to allow free scope to a state of things that was sure to 
afford a pretext for new attacks on the clergy and re • 
ligion. 

Accordingly, the Prefect recurred to the Bishop, ask- 
ing him to prohibit Bernadette to go to the Rocks of 
Massabeille. Mons. Laurence understood at a glance, 
that the civil power wished to use the church as an in- 
strument, and that it was determined to have recourse 
to violence — to the great detriment of the souls and 
persons of many. Now, he had sufficient esteem for his 
own dignity, and for his office, not to allow himself to 
be led astray. On the other hand, the threatened vio- 
lence had to be kept in check ; wherefore, he entered 
upon a prudent fine of action : it was this : he gave 
orders to the Pastor of Lourdes to council Bernadette 
against — going to the Grotto unless called there by that 
voice from heaven, in order not to give a pretext for 
persecutions ; but in case she felt that heavenly voice 
within her, not to stop her — thus respecting the sacred 
rights of liberty even in a child. And this course, in 
fact, was followed. 

But at this time arose a question, apparently foreign 
to the case of Lourdes, but still bearing on it in a very 
decided manner : this was a question regarding the 
stables of the Prefect. He wished to build them on 



122 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

sacred ground — an ancient cemetery which was adjacent 
to one of the gates of the Cathedral. As was right, the 
Bishop opposed the project : the Prefect, as was his 
custom, continued obstinate. The suit was brought to 
Paris, where a verdict was given in favor of the Bishop. 
In order to satiate his wrath, the Prefect swore to be 
indirectly revenged of the Bishop by stopping the super- 
stitions of Lourdes : and this is the course he followed. 

Many offerings had been made to the Most Holy 
Virgin, in the Grotto of Lourdes, and the Prefect con- 
sidered this a transformation of the place into a public 
chapel, which, not having been authorized either by the 
civil, or ecclesiastical power, was illegal. He could, 
therefore, plunder and close the Grotto; and he was re- 
solved to do so. Further, he could not wreak his ven- 
geance on Bernadette by having recourse to any criminal 
and penal process, but he could in an administrative 
way, by representing her as crazed, confine her in a 
lunatic asylum ; and for this purpose he sent two doc- 
tors to her house — friends of his, and privy to his 
scheme, who, upon examination, declared her possibly 
insane; and this was enough for the Prefect. 

About the first of May, the time of the Council of Re- 
vision, the Prefect took occasion to go to Lourdes, where 
he would meet all the Syndics of the district, and be 
enabled to have his two resolutions put in practice ; and 
in fact, on the 4th, (thus did the religious Prefect com- 
mence his month of Mary), after having assisted at the 
labors of the military conscription, he delivered a dis- 
course to the assembled Syndics, in which he notified 
them of the two following resolutions — namely, that the 
Syndic of Lourdes was to have Bernadette arrested, and 
sent to the hospital of Tarbes ; and that the Commis- 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 123 

sary was to plunder the Grotto. Having given these 
orders he set out from Lourdes, in order not to be 
present at their execution. 

This battle against the work of God was magnificently 
arranged, as we will see. The cause would be removed 
by the arrest of Bernadette, and the effect by the spoli- 
ation of the Grotto. Would the people, fired with en- 
thusiasm, rise up in rebellion? A squadron of horse- 
men was stationed at Tarbes awaiting the orders of the 
Prefect to gallop off to the scene, and put an end to re- 
sistance with the sword. But God was watching over 
His work. 

Let us commence with the Syndic, and the arrest of 
Bernadette. M. Anselm Lacacle, the Syndic of Lourdes, 
was, as we have said, an excellent man, although a little 
too much attached to his office, and rather over-ambi- 
tious of his dignity : nevertheless, the Prefect's order 
had disconcerted him, and he went to the Imperial 
Procurator, M. Dutour, to take counsel ; and both went 
to the pastor to notify him of the Prefect's injunctions, 
which were based upon a law passed on the 30th of 
June, 1838, regarding the insane. 

Abbe Peyramale, the Cure of Lourdes, had from the 
commencement doubted the facts related by Bernadette, 
and had, consequently, acted with the utmost prudence 
in the case. But when the fountain had gushed forth, 
and many extraordinary cures had been wrought by its 
waters, he was convinced of the supernatural nature of 
the work : hence, he could not repress his indignation 
at the cruel iniquity of such a measure. * * * " This 
child is innocent !" he exclaimed, " and the proof is, M. 
Imperial Procurator, that you, as a magistrate, have 
not been able, despite your various interrogatories, to 



124 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

find the slightest pretext for proceedings. You know 
there is no tribunal in France that would not recognize 
her innocence, which is as resplendent as the sun, and 
no Procurator-General who, under the circumstances, 
would not declare monstrous, and immediately stop — I 
will not say an arrest, but a simple act of the judiciary." 

" In fact, it is not the magistracy, but the administra- 
tive authority that is acting," replied M. Dutour. " The 
Prefect, on the testimony of the physicians, wished to 
lock up Bernadette as being affected with insanity ; and 
this he does in consequence of the interest he has in 
her recovery. This is a simple administrative measure 
which touches the Church in no way, in as much as 
neither the Bishop, nor the clergy have pronounced 
judgment on these facts." 

" Such a measure," replied the priest, growing more 
animated, " would be the most odious of persecutions, 
in as much as it puts on the mask of hypocrisy, affects 
a wish to protect, wraps itself in the mantle of the law, 
while its real object is to oppress a poor, defenceless 
creature. If the Bishop, the clergy, and myself are 
waiting for a more brilliant light to shed its beams on 
the events that have taken place in our midst, in order 
to judge of their supernatural character, certainly we 
know enough to form a judgment of Bernadette's sin- 
cerity, and of the soundness of her intellectual faculties. 
And since no lesion of the brain is manifest, how can 
your two physicians be more competent to judge of the 
insanity, or sanity, of the child than anyone else of the 
thousand visitors who have questioned her, and have 
admired the full clearness, and normal state of her 
mind ? Your physicians themselves dare not affirm her 
insanity, and have come to no conclusion except with 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 125 

an hypothesis. M. Prefect, you cannot by any title 
have Bernadette arrested." 

"It is legal." 

" It is illegal. I, priest and Cure, Foreign Vicar of 
the City of Lourdes, owe a duty to all, and in particu- 
lar to the weak. If I saw an armed man rush upon a 
baby, I would defend it at the risk of my life, because 
I know the duty of protection incumbent on the good 
pastor. Know, then, that I could not act differently 
were that man a Prefect, and his arms, a wicked article 
of a wicked law. Go, therefore, and tell M. Massy that 
his gendarmery shall find me on the threshold of the 
door of this poor family, and that they shall have to 
knock me down, and pass over my body, and trample 
me under foot before they touch a hair in the head of 
this child." 

"Nevertheless, * *-*" 

" There is no nevertheless here. Examine. Make in- 
quiries ; you are free to do so, — nay, more, all invite 
you to adopt this course. But if, instead of this, you 
wish to persecute and oppress the innocent, rest assured 
that before you touch the last and least of my flock, it 
is with me you have to begin." 

The priest had risen to his feet. His lofty stature, 
the lines of determination that marked his brow, that 
fulness of power that rose up in him, his resolute jes- 
tures, his face lit up with emotion— all were a commen- 
tary on his words, and showed them in their proper 
light. 

For an instant the Procurator and Syndic were silent. 
Then they talked of the measures relating to the 
Grotto. 

"As regards the Grotto," replied the priest, " if the 



126 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Prefect wishes, in the name of the laws of the nation, 
and of his own particular piety to rob it of the presents 
that innumerable visitors have deposited there in honor 
of the Holy Virgin, let him do so. The faithful will be 
sad, nay, indignant ; but rest assured the inhabitants of 
this town know how to respect authority even when in 
the wrong. It is reported that at Tarbes there is a 
mounted squadron only waiting the signal from the 
Prefect. Let them dismount. No matter how enraged 
the minds and wounded the hearts of the people may 
be, they will hear my voice ; and I now take the responsi- 
bility of the tranquility of the place upon me, in case 
the armed forces do not appear. If they come, I do 
not hold myself responsible." 

The result of this interview was that M. Lacade 
tendered the Prefect his resignation as Syndic sooner 
than obey his orders to arrest Bernadette. 

Not so did the other part of the degree fail of its 
purpose. M. Jacomet went to the Grotto, and plundered 
it of all its offerings, which he then removed to the 
communal palace, in presence of an excited multitude: 
but no disturbance took place. 

Behold ! how the cunning of men in vain opposes the 
counsels of Divine Providence, as the Sovereign Pontiff, 
Pius IX., beautifully says in his Brief to M. Henry 
Lasserre. 

Rest yourself here, dear reader, and attach great im- 
portance to the following 

MEDITATION ON DIVISION OF HEART. 

I. Consider in what division, or doubleiiess of heart 
consists. It is the vice of those who wish to practice 
religion, and at the same time please the world and 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 127 

their passions. Their object is to attain their own pri- 
vate interests, and this they cover with the mantle of 
public good, of charity, of convenience, of honesty, and 
consequently, of the greater glory of God. They wish 
to stand with Jesus Christ, and with the devil, with vir- 
tue and with vice, with the Pope and the Bishops, and 
with their enemies. They wish to go to church and to 
corrupt theatres — to frequent the sacraments, and visit 
houses in which their virtue is imperilled, and keep 
company with persons dangerous to their immortal 
souls. Are you one of these ? 

II. Consider how much a divided heart displeases God. 
He is jealous of our love, and wishes to reign alone in 
our hearts. Therefore, to give one-half to God, and the 
other to the world, is to do Him a most grievous injury, 
by putting Him thereby on a par with His enemy. Nay, 
the crime is more grievous than that of the idolators, 
since they adore their idols because they know not the 
true God, while we, on the contrary, place God, although 
knowing Him, on a level with creatures. And in point 
of fact, God had patience with the Philistines as long 
as they were only idolators ; but when they wished to 
place the holy ark on the altar of their gods, He over- 
turned the idol, and avenged Himself upon them in a 
terrible manner. Hence does He exclaim in the Holy 
Scriptures: Vae duplici corde— Woe to them that are 
of a double heart (Eccl. ii. 14). Abominabile Domino 
cor pravum — A perverse heart is abominable to the 
Lord (Prov. xi. 20); and in the epigraph prefixed to 
this chapter Jesus Christ has clearly said, that the man 
who is not with Him, is against Him. * * * Tremble 
lest you become subject to His anger. 



128 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

III. Consider how the man of divided heart is also 
displeasing in the sight of his fellow-men. Yes ; men, 
although they may be unjust, many times act justly in 
this, that they cannot forgive a want of uprightness and 
sincerity. Hence the pretended devotee does not please 
God, who looks upon him as a deserter, or the world, 
that regards him as a spy. Persons justly contemplate 
him with horror, because he dishonors virtue, which he 
feigns to profess. Men of worldly notions despise him, 
because he counterfeits virtue in order to be distin- 
guished from them, while in reality he is pursuing a 
vicious course which confounds him with themselves. 

Examine, therefore, dear reader, your heart and your 
manner of acting ; and if you detect the slightest shadow 
of this vice in you, do all in your power to remove it as 
soon as possible. Examine also your thoughts and 
words regarding certain political questions of the day. 

Practice. — Make three acts of charity, saying to God 
that you love Him above all things. 

Ejaculation. — Spiriturn rectum innova in visceribus 
meio — O my God ! O my Lady of Lourdes ! grant me 
a right spirit. 



CHAPTER v. 
The Chemical Analysis, and the dosing of the Grotto. 

•'All wisdom is from the Lord God" (Eccl.i. 1). 

One of the many objections with which the wicked 
oppose the Catholic Church, is taken from human 
sciences, and chiefly from the positive, such as Geology, 
Physics, Chemistry, etc. How many falsehoods are, 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 129 

therefore, being scattered amongst the people either 
through malice or want of prudence ! And yet, those 
blinded individuals do not notice that our holy religion 
loves nothing more than science, study, light, disputa- 
tion, provided they be conducted logically and reason- 
ably ! One thing only does the Church fear, and that 
is ignorance, which, if it does not cause her evil directly 
of its own action, chills religious sentiment, and brings 
discredit on it in the hearts of men. This is, in fact, 
what Bacon of Verulam teaches when he says that 
philosophy little understood, can, perhaps, lead to 
Atheism ; but when thoroughly understood, it leads the 
soul back to religion. (De Aug. Scient). 

It was to the positive sciences that the craft of men 
at Lourdes now had recourse in order to resist the work 
of God. 

Prefect Massy, on receiving the communication of the 
Syndic of Lourdes, in which he expressed his determi- 
nation to resign office rather than have Bernadette ar- 
rested, and taking into consideration, too, the several 
other details of the letter, became very thoughtful, and 
felt a deep sense of wounded pride. He to be stopped 
in the execution of a measure so publicly announced 
the day before to the Levy Council (Consiglio di 
Leva) — he who had never gone back on his resolutions. 
* * * And still he had to be resigned to abandon 
his present course of tactics. It is true that by letting 
the little seer alone, he was recognizing her innocence 
and the integrity of her mind, but per force he had to 
keep still. To admit his own error, and repair the in- 
jury he had done, never passed through his mind. He 
resolved upon another plan. 

In order to eradicate the " superstition," as he said, 



130 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

it would suffice to make it appear that the cures 
effected by the water of the fountain were perfectly 
natural, inasmuch as they were produced by some 
medicinal quality inherent in it. Accordingly he wrote 
onthe 5th"of May to the Syndic of Lourdes to have 
the water of the fountain of Massabielle analyzed by a 
chemist of sufficient notoriety in the department, named 
M. Latour de^Trie. This gentleman immediately went 
to work, and on the 6th inst, sent the result of his 
analysis to^ the Syndic, who immediately transmitted it 
to the Prefect. 

The analysis was perfectly in keeping with the desires 
of the skeptics and the Prefect. And in fact, after hav- 
ing enumerated the different components of the water, 
the chemist concluded thus: " We do not consider that 
we are precipitating our judgment too far by saying that, 
having examined the combined qualities of the sub- 
stances^which compose the water, medical science will 
not, perhaps, be slow in recognizing in it some special 
curative properties that shall rank it in the number of 
those waters that constitute the mineral wealth of our 
department." 

Meanwhile, the cures continued. The skeptics and 
the Prefect had a grand announcement to make, based 
on the analysis of their chemist : but the cures were so 
various and instantaneous that persons of intelligence 
were not set at rest by their explanation, — namely, that 
they were the fruit of the medicinal properties of the 
water. The analysis of Latour was opposed, and with 
reason. A chemist of the town, M. Thomas Pujo, 
affirmed that the water of the fountain was a natural 
fluid completely devoid of all medicinal properties. 
Yarious competent professors of the surrounding dis- 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 131 

tricts confirmed this assertion. Science commenced to 
declare the analysis of Latour entirely false. These 
opinions had, in fine, taken such a consistent stand 
that the municipal Council of Lourdes, in a sitting of 
the 3d of June, unanimously enjoined upon the Syndic 
the obligation of having a new analysis made, and for 
that purpose to engage the services of Prof. Filhol, 
one of the greatest chemists of our time. Accordingly, 
the Syndic, • on the very same day, wrote to him to 
Toulouse. 

Whilst the professor was prosecuting his analysis, the 
state of things had undergone a great change. The 
Prefect was rewarded with 25,000 francs, and Jacomefc 
received congratulations : nay, the Minister of Worship 
in a letter, which was transmitted to many functionaries, 
testified to the Prefect his great satisfaction, and prais- 
ing him for all he had done, urged upon him the im- 
portance of taking energetic measures, and added that 
the Grotto and the miracles of Lourdes must be put an 
end to at any cost 

This letter was for the Prefect like a spark dropped 
into a powder magazine. The question of the stables 
had brought his exasperation to its acme. It was now 
the month of June. The watering season was approach- 
ing ; and soon the bathers and tourists of all Europe 
would flock in to Lourdes. What a scandal, should they 
see supernatural cures and miracles in his department ! 

On the 6th of June, M. Fould, Minister of Finance of 
the Empire, being on his way to his estates, rested at 
Tarbes, and had, it is said, a long conference with M. 
Massy, regarding the facts related of the Grotto. 

The able Prefect had an inspiration as ingenious as it 
was simple. He embraced it ; and on the following day 
sent the Syndic of Lourdes the following decree : 



132 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

"THE SYNDIC OF THE CITY OF LOURDES, 

" Having seen the higher orders, etc., and the laws, 
etc. Considering etc., etc., decrees : 
" Art. 1. — It is prohibited to touch the water of the 

fountain of 31assabielle. 
" Art. 2. — It is also prohibited to pass along the com- 
mon called the banks of Massdbielle. 
" Art. 3. — A barrier shall be placed at the entrance of 
the Grotto to prevent access. Sign boards 
shall be erected bearing the following inscrip- 
tion: It is forbidden to trespass on this prop- 
erty. 
" Art. 4. — Every violation of this decree shall be 
punished according to law. 
" Lourdes, June 8th, 1858. 

" Syndic A. Lacade. 
" Seen and approved, 

" Prefect O. Massy." 

The decree was published by sound of trumpet, and 
posted throughout the city ; and under the protection 
of the soldiery, and according to Jacomet's directions, 
the Grotto was closed in such a way that ingress was 
rendered impossible, except by breaking the fence, or 
by scaling. Signboards bearing in large characters the 
words: " It is forbidden to trespass on this property, 
under pain of proceedings before the tribunals," were 
erected at every point where there could possibly be a 
chance of entering the common surrounding the vener- 
ated Rocks. The civic guards, and those of public 
safety, kept watch there day and night. 

And yet, the people, without causing any disorder, 
continued to assemble around the Rocks, and poured 
out their prayers at a distance. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 133 

Behold, then, how these two cunning tricks of men 
did not succeed in overthrowing the work of God. And, 
in point of fact, supposing the analysis of Latour, re- 
garding the qualities of the water of the fountain, to be 
true, how could the cures wrought by it be thereby ex- 
plained ? "Taking a complex view of the eures"~especially 
the sixteen cases examined by the Episcopal Commission, 
one of which was the healing of Louis Bouriette, which 
we have already mentioned, the physicians, engaged to 
examine the cases, said in their report to the Commis- 
sion : " Taking a complex view of the cures, one is 
suddenly struck with wonder on seeing how a cause so 
simple produces effects so great ; how one only remedy 
heals various diseases ; how an application resorted to 
for a short space of time eradicates ailments which, 
according to the rules of medicine, should be subjected 
to long treatment ; how such a process instantly re- 
moves maladies that have a long time baffled the restor- 
atives suggested by art ; how it expels chronic afflictions 
in a moment. Certainly there must be at work here a 
force superior to nature, which employs this water to 
manifest its power." 

In fine, the Chemist of the Prefecture was completely 
refuted by the analysis of Eilhol, which he sent the 
Syndic of Lourdes on the 7th of August. It was 
worded as follows : 

" I, the undersigned, professor of chemistry to the fac- 
ulty of science of Toulouse, professor of pharmacy and 
of toxicology to the school of medicine of the same city, 
Cavalier of the legion of honor, certify that I have 
analyzed a water issuing from a fountain, that has 
gushed forth in the vicinity of Lourdes. 

" The result of this analysis is, that the water of the 



134 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Grotto of Lourdes is of such a composition that it can 
be considered a drinkable water, analygous to the greater 
portion of those waters which are met with on the moun- 
tains, where the soil is rich in limy substance. The 
extraordinary effects which, it is asserted, have been 
produced by the use of this water, cannot be explained, at 
least in the actual state of science, by the nature of the saline 
substances which our analysis discovers. 1 his water con- 
tains no active substance capable of giving i' a therapeutic 
property, and it can be drank without inconvenience. * * * 
It is limpid, devoid of color and smell, and has no de- 
cided flavor. Its density is a little more than that of 
distilled water, etc." 

And now, dear reader, on seeing how the enemies of 
the work of God wished to combat religion with the aid 
of science, make the following 

MEDITATION ON THE HARMONY OF RELIGION WITH SCIENCE. 

I. Consider how religion and science cannot be contrary 
to each other. Religion is derived from the revelation 
of God, and science, from human reason, which is also 
His creation. How then can we admit that God by 
revelation, teaches anything contrary to the dictates of 
reason ? God is like a master who instructs his pupils 
by word and by writing, with this difference that a 
human preceptor can be deceived, but God cannot. 
Hence it is impossible for God to contradict Himself by 
teaching anything to be true by revelation, which is 
known to be false by reason. Reader, is not this true ? 
Do you believe it ? Are you not one of those who, hav- 
ing made only the most meagre studies, wish to fault 
and impugn the Catholic Religion ? 

II. Consider how even religion and science mutually 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 135 

assist each other? Beligion, by means of revelation, guides 
natural reason in its acts, and preserves it from error ; 
and inversely, natural reason confirms religion, as has 
always been the case in well ordered universities where 
all the sciences are taught from a religious stand-point. 
And the proof of this is, that religion, and the Keligious in 
by-gone ages, have preserved for us the sciences, which 
but for them would have perished : moreover, wherever 
religion is respected and practiced, there, too, do the 
sciences flourish. Do you believe this ? Study the matter 
over, and ask the opinion of true scientists, and you will 
surely be convinced of its truth. 

III. Consider, moreover, how religion is the mother, 
the protector, and chief promoter of science. The history 
of the Catholic Church, both in ancient and modern 
times, records this fact on every page. The Pope, the 
Bishops, and the Clergy, have, more than any other, 
cultivated the sciences, and promoted their growth. 
* * * Bead history, and you will learn this. 

Gather then this truth from the present meditation— 
namely, that you become convinced of the necessity of 
studying profoundly — not alone transient newspapers, 
and librettos, but books of solidity and learning ; but if 
on the other hand, you have not time, or talent, or the 
convenience to apply yourself to study, do not undertake 
to decide matters of religion which you do not compre- 
hend. 

Practice. — Becite seven Ave Marias for those who 
believe themselves to be learned, and combat religion. 

Ejaculation. — Sedes sapientie, ora pro nobis. O, Mary 
Immaculate of Lourdes, who art the seat of wisdom, 
pray for us. 



136 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

CHAPTEE VI. 

The Legal Proceedings. 

"This is the victory which overcometh the world, our faith.'* 

St. John v. 4. 

In vain does the cuniiing of man oppose the counsels 
of Divine Providence, said the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius 
IX., apropos of the facts of Lourdes ; and, as we have 
seen, not one of them has so far been overcome. Let 
us engage ourselves now in reviewing another sort of 
device. 

The famous decree of the 8th of June, with its an- 
nexed penalties, having been published, all who resisted 
it were proceeded against by a Justice of the Peace. 
At this time M. Duprat held that official position at 
Lourdes. He was as fierce an enemy of the superstition 
as Jacomet, Massy, Dutour, and the other constituted 
authorities. This Justice, not being able under the cir- 
cumstances to impose but a small fine, devised an in- 
direct means of raising it to an enormous and really for- 
midable amount for the poor people who came from all 
quarters to ask graces of the Virgin of the Grotto. He 
fined them five francs each, but in this single sentence 
were comprised all who had violated the Prefect's de- 
cree, whether by forming a part of the same crowd, or 
by having gone, under any pretext, to the Grotto on the 
same day. He pronounced sentence upon all by way 
of consolidation of fines — that is to say, if a hundred, 
or two hundred persons were found together at the 
Rocks of Massabielle, each one was liable to pay not 
only for himself but for all the others ; thus the fine would 
reach the amount of from five hundred to ten hundred 
francs a man; and although the individual and principal 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 137 

sentence was only a five franc fine, still, the decision of 
this Justice was without appeal to a higher tribunal, 
and consequently there was no chance of redress. Jus- 
tice Duprat was omnipotent, and was not slow to use 
his power. It is true that the government with brutal 
violence, had denied so far the possibility of the apparitions, 
as being opposed to Catholic faith, which was the prevail- 
ing religion of the Empire ; it is true that it had denied, 
too, the hundreds of cures established in the most convinc- 
ing manner ; it is true that this was a monstrous cruelty 
towards the poor sick — still the Prefect of the High 
Pyrenees and Baron Massy wished it : and this was 
enough. 

Who, then, would not have expected that under these 
trying circumstances the Grotto would be forgot? But, 
no ; the people still flocked there. The more cour- 
ageous defied legal proceedings and fines, tore down 
the barriers, and went to pray at the Grotto, after hav- 
ing given their names to the guards who kept watch 
around the entrance of the common. Many of the 
guards themselves believed like the people, and before 
taking their post used to prostrate themselves on their 
knees at the entrance to the venerated place. Poor 
fellows ! They were obliged to obey authority in order 
not to lose their daily pittance. Others of the faithful 
believers, respecting the barriers, went to the Grotto by 
bye-ways, while one of the party would remain behind 
to watch, and with a conventional signal notify the 
others of the arrival of the police. In this way many 
infirm were brought with great difficulty as far as the 
miraculous fountain. The official authority having been 
notified of this violation of the decree, doubled the 
guards and intercepted every pathway. Still there 



138 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

were persons who, despite the violence of the current, 
used night after night, to swim the Gave, in order to go 
and pray at the Grotto and drink the water of the holy 
spring. Often people went to pray on their knees be- 
side the sign-boards that were erected on the extreme 
limits of the common. This was, as it were, a mute 
protest against the authorities — a mute appeal to the 
Omnipotent God. Other times poor people afflicted 
with paralysis, blindness, and other serious maladies 
which medicine could not cure, and whose healing was 
a secret with God, came a long way to the Syndic's 
house, and entreated him with suppliant hands to per- 
mit them to go make one last trial of the miraculous 
spring. But the Syndic, in the name of the higher au- 
thority, refused permission. O cruelty unheard of! 
Law proceedings were taken even against the sick. 
Many then went on the right bank of the Gave, facing 
the Grotto. On certain days there was a countless host 
of persons assembled, against whom proceedings could 
not be taken, because the ground they occupied be- 
longed to private individuals, who believed the blessing 
of heaven would descend upon them by permitting the 
pilgrims to pray upon their property with their eyes 
turned towards the Grotto. 

The entire population became indignant, but still 
suppressed their wrath. 

The authorities were often put to severe trials. Per- 
sons of illustrious birth openly violated the enclosure. 
One day a strange man of most decided appearance 
and gigantic build, was stopped on arriving at the en- 
closure, for he intended to pass on to the Bocks of Mas- 
sabielle. 

"You cannot pass." 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 139 

" You shall see that I will pass," replied the stranger 
in a most decided tone, at the same time entering the 
common without being in the least abashed, and direct- 
ing his steps to the Grotto. 

" Tour name ? I must take proceedings against 
you." 

" My name is Louis Veuillot," replied the stranger. 

While the illustrious scrivener was proceeding with 
his lawvforni a lady had outstepped the limits by a few 
paces, and was just in the act of kneeling beside the 
fence that shut in the Grotto. The hundred-eyed Argus 
slipped by Veuillot, and ran up to the kneeling woman. 

"Madam," said he, "it is not allowed to pray there. 
I have just caught you in a flagrant offence, for which 
you shall have to answer before the Justice of the Peace, 
who judges immediately, and whose decision is without 
appeal. In the name of the law, I begin my process. 
Your name ?" 

"I will readily give it," replied the lady. "I am 
Madam Bruat, wife of the Admiral, and governess to 
His Eoyal Highness, the Prince Imperial." 

Jacomet, terrible as was his wrath, was stunned into 
respect. He did not write the process. Such scenes 
as these were often renewed. Certain processes used 
to terrify the Prefect's agents, and would have terrified 
the Prefect himself. Sad state of things ! The decree 
was violated by the great, while the poor had to suffer 
the penalties it inflicted. Two weights and two meas- 
ures were in use. 

What say you, reader ? Was not this a grand tri- 
umph which the work of God gained at Lourdes? 
What faith in the masses of the people? Enter into 
yourself, and make the following 



140 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

MEDITATION ON THE QUALITIES OF FAITH. 

I. Consider how our faith must be certain — that is, it 
must exclude all doubt, all opinion, all suspicion regard- 
ing the truth of what it teaches. Even to suspect, fear 
or doubt its truths is of itself a crime against faith, be- 
cause it is to suspect, fear or doubt the infallibility of 
God or of His Church. Now, we speak here of volun- 
tary doubt, opinion or suspicion — that is to say, enter- 
tained with full advertence ; but we do not at all refer 
to those temptations against faith which float across the 
mind, but to which consent is not given. Is this your 
faith ? Do you not entertain doubts, suspicions or 
opinions regarding the truth of some articles of faith ? 

II. Consider how our faith must be firm, that is, it 
must be ready to resist every assault, and every perse- 
cution that may be brought into action against it. And 
this means that we must be prepared to give up life 
itself, as the Catechism teaches, rather than deny the 
truths of faith even by a single word. And reasonably 
so, for to deny them is to lack fidelity to God whom 
we should love above all things ; therefore we should 
be disposed to loose all things sooner than offend Him. 
Thus did the Martyrs do; and now they enjoy in heaven 
the rewards of their sufferings. Is your faith like this ? 
Do not you become intimidated by a word, by a scoff, 
or by a joke! And if this is true, how are you a 
Catholic? 

III. Consider how our faith should be universal and 
operative, inasmuch as it ought to extend not alone to 
speculative and theoretical truths, such as the Unity 
and Trinity of God, etc., but also to practical truths 
such as the following : That mortal sin is the greatest 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 141 

evil in the world * * * that blasphemy, the profana- 
tion of holidays, impurity, etc., are of their own nature 
mortal sins * * * that there is a hell with ah eternity 
of torment for the wicked, etc., and that, therefore, we 
should avoid evil and do good. * * * Is this your faith ? 
Do you firmly believe these practical truths of faith ? 
Do you reflect seriously on these points ? 

Examine yourself attentively on the qualities of 
your faith, and apply a remedy to the defects you find 
in it. 

Practice. — Pay this day one visit to a church where 
the Most Holy Sacrament is kept. Adore your God 
hidden under the Eucharistic veils, by external acts of 
worship, and pray to Him to revive your faith. 

Ejaculation -0 Jesus ! O Mary ! re-enkindle my faith 
in me. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Religion and Good Order. 

" Let all things be done decently, and according to order." 

(i Cor. xiv. 40). 

The Sovereign Pontiff, Pius IX., in his Brief of the 
4th of September, 1869, addressed to M. Lasserre, con- 
gratulates him for having demonstrated by his history 
of Our Lady of Lourdes, that our most holy religion of 
itself alone, and unaided by any external power, is able 
to preserve order among the masses of the people. 
Religionen nostrum SS . . . aptissimam esse ordini ser- 
vando, vi etiam submota. This is a truth undeniably 
certain, as we shall prove in this chapter. 



142 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

All the systems of philosophy and of moral theology, 
though varying in words, are, as a fact, of one accord 
in maintaining that the substance of all law, that the 
very first moral precept from which all the others are 
derived, consists in these words — " preserve order ; 
serva ordiiiem" St. Augustine teaches that the eter- 
nal law, the principle and foundation of all others, is the 
reason or the will of God commanding society to pre- 
serve the natural order, and to avoid disturbing it. 
And in fact, if we, His creatures, preserve order toward 
God, the Creator and Conserver, we shall fulfill all our 
obligations to Him. If order be preserved in the State, 
that is to say, if the chief magistrate and his representa- 
tives be acknowledged as lawful superiors, citizens and 
subjects, in that case, fulfill all their duties ; in the 
family circle children must act similarly towards their 
parents — and so of the rest. What a pity that in our 
days men, generally speaking, do not wish to recognize 
the Christian religion in a practical manner — a religion 
that preaches, inculcates and promotes the observance 
of the natural law! And hence it is that soldiers, 
gendarmery, guards and prisons have to be multiplied. 
Look at Lourdes during the first six months of the year 
1858. 

"One of the grandest prerogatives of sovereigns," 
writes M. Henry Lasserre, " is the right they possess 
to confer favors ; and whenever a King wishes to cele- 
brate his accession to the throne, he grants an amnesty 
to the prisoners. The Queen of Heaven possessed a 
greater prerogative, and exercised it. She wished 
that there should be no criminal during her journey to 
Lourdes, and the commencement of her reign there. 
The apparitions of the holy Grotto occurred during two 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 143 

quarters' sessions of the judiciary, and during these six 
months there was not a single crime committed, or one 
criminal condemned in the whole department. This is, 
we think, a fact unprecedented. During the^Assizes of 
the month of March only one case was produced for ex 
amination ; and this was one that had occurred prior 
to the apparitions, and ended in dismissal. |;The next 
session, which was to be held in June, had only two 
cases to try ; and these, too, were connected with events 
anterior to this period." 

This wonderful coincidence — this mysterious sign of 
nv isible power which acted with such benign ^influence 
ion the entire district — is a subject for reflection even for 
the least thoughtful mind. How was the arm of the male- 
factor tied down for so long a period ? Was this impos- 
ture ? Was it hallucination, or catalepsy ? How was it 
that the sword of justice had not to be recurred to ? 
Whence proceeded this peace — this truce of God pre- 
cisely during this period ? We challenge skepticism of 
every kind to explain it. * * * But we, who live by 
faith (nos qui vivimus), can explain it with certainty : 
The Queen of Heaven had passed the way, and had 
poured out upon the city the blessings of heaven. Oh ! 
why is not the Catholic religion, which is the religion of 
the Queen of Heaven, heard, obeyed, respected and 
practised. 

And yet, provocation to commit crime was not want- 
ing. Some months previous churches had been robbed. 
And now among the rocks of Massabielle, within the en- 
closure of the holy Grotto many wax-lights burned in 
token of veneration ; vases filled with natural and arti- 
ficial flowers, and images of the Holy Virgin were de- 
posited there as ex voto offerings, in testimony of grate- 



144 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

ful recognition. Workmen had placed a small balus- 
trade around the holy place, in order to prevent any 
accident that might possibly be occasioned by the in- 
voluntary and eager crush of the multitude. Many little 
crosses were suspended there from chains of gold. And 
when the cry was heard through the town, that in obe- 
pience to the Apparition, a Chapel had to be erected 
there, the people began to deposit money in the Grotto. 
Thousands of francs were there exposed in the open air, 
without any external protection either by day or by 
night ; and yet, such was the respect that this place, 
once unknown, had inspired — such the moral effect it 
had produced upon souls, that there was not found in the 
whole town a single wretch to commit a sacrilegious theft. 
How explain this, except by admitting a special provi- 
dence on the part of the Most Holy Virgin, who would 
not have the beginning of her holy pilgrimage stained 
by crime ! 

And at that time, what great respect for the authority 
of the Prefect, the Syndic, the Commissary of Police, 
the civic guards even, and those of public security, was 
manifested by the people, although they had been often 
aroused and exasperated in the highest degree ! And 
was there any lack of due respect for the clergy, who 
were so slow in interesting themselves with regard to 
the apparitions ? Ah ! would that the Catholic religion 
were duly observed. * * 

MEDITATION. 

I. Consider how the civil law alone is not sufficient to 
maintain order amongst the people, because it offers re- 
wards and inflicts punishments that are only temporal, 
and consequently inadequate either for the man who 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 145 

observes, or for him who violates it ; and particularly 
because it takes cognizance of external acts alone, and 
cannot reach the hidden. And now internal acts, when 
often repeated, invariably externate themselves to the 
great disturbance of order. Look, for example, at the 
vindictive man, who covertly nourishes anger and hatred 
in his heart, suddenly transported by these occult pas- 
sions into open manifestations of revenge, which too 
often end in homicide. Nay, more ; hidden acts of 
themselves disturb) order despite the civil law. * * * 
Deduce thence the insufficiency of Justices and Carabi- 
nieri to maintain order, especially in our days. 

II. Consider how religion, with its rewards and pun- 
ishments in the life to come, with its dogma of the pres- 
ence of God in every place, even in the most hidden 
recesses of the mind and heart, is able to accomplish 
this desired end. * * * Reflect, and you shall under- 
stand. 

III. From this deduce the consequence. Honor the 
civil authorities as representatives of Gocl, and fear the 
sword of justice ; but esteem and prize immensely more 
the Catholic religion, the Pope, the Bishops and the 
Clergy. * * * Happy are those States in which the 
Catholic religion is the foundation of the civil law, and 
the guide of the magistracy. * * ■* Apply all this to 
modern Kingdoms and States. 

Practice. — "Recite three Salve Reginas to the Queen of 
Heaven for our rulers. 

Ejaculation.— Ab occultis meis munda me, Domine.-— 
Jesus and Mary help me to purify my heart from its 
hidden sins. 



146 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

CHAPTER Vni. 

The Church and the Revolution. 
"He that resistetli the power, resisteth the ordinance of God." — 
Eom. xiii., 2. 

Another of the many calumnies propagated against 
the Catholic religion is this, that she, by her intoler- 
ance, foments divisions and sedition amongst peoples 
and families : a calumny like the others. Not to give 
any other answer for the present, let us come to the 
facts of Lourdes. The Sovereign Pontiff says that by 
the history of the work of God it is made clearly ap- 
parent that our most holy religion is well adapted to 
check excitement amongst the people, even when justly 
aroused — Concitatos in turbis animorum motus licet 
justos compescere. * * * Let us see the proof. 

The reader remembers that when, on the 21st of 
February, a guard met Bernadette as she left the 
church, and asked her in the name of the law to follow 
him to the Questorate, the multitude, who in the morn- 
ing had seen the humble child transfigured in divine 
ecstacy, and who regarded her as blessed by God, and 
as something sacred, murmured in a threatening man- 
ner; and upon seeing the guard lay hands on her, 
wished to interfere, for their indignation was now 
aroused to the utmost. Again, while she was before the 
Commissary of Police, the multitude who had accom- 
panied her thither, again became impatient because 
they saw her detained by that official over three- 
quarters of an hour. In the Commissary's hall itself 
were confusedly heard the cries, the shouts, and the 
thousand murmurs of the excited crowd. The noise 
seemed every moment, to be on the increase, and to as- 
sume an aspect more alarming. And still no crime was 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 147 

committed by the people : they became perfectly calm 
as soon as they saw the little seer come out in company 
with her father. 

But where the power of religion to calm the agitation 
of the people, even when they are justly excited, shines 
out most conspicuously, is on the occasion of 'the spoli- 
ation of the Grotto, which outrage was committed on 
the 4th of May. M. Jacomet, in great state, and with 
his bandoleer suspended at his waist, was getting ready 
to follow out the orders of the Prefect — namely, to plun- 
der the Grotto. The news spread in an instant through 
the townspeople, and every breast was fired with indig- 
nation at this monstrous sacrilege. * * * " The 
Holy Virgin has condescended to descend into our 
midst," said they, " and work miracles ; and this is the 
way she is received! Such conduct will surely draw 
down upon the guilty ones the wrath of God." 

The coolest minds were excited ; a mute effervescence 
of feeling was manifest amongst the crowd, and seemed 
to increase little by little. Let us note, in passing, that 
the clergy rendered incalculable service under the cir- 
cumstances. The objects of piety, and the ex voto offer- 
ings deposited in the Grotto made a heap so very large 
as rendered it impossible for any man to remove 
by hand. Wherefore M. Jacomet went to M. Barioge, 
to hire a horse and wagon. * * * 

" I do not hire out my horses for such purposes," re- 
plied the latter. 

" But you cannot refuse your horses to any one that 
pays for them," sturdily exclaimed Jacomet. 

" My horses are for post service, not for a job like 
this. I do not wish to have anything to do with this 
crime. Enter a process against me, if you will ; I refuse 
my horses." 



148 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

The Commissary went elsewhere. In all the inns; 
amongst all who kept post-horses for hire — and there 
were a great many of them at Lourdes at the time, in 
consequence of the approaching bathing season; amongst 
the private individuals, to whom he recurred in his des- 
peration, he met with the same refusal. His situation 
was bitter in the extreme. The people, excited to mad- 
ness, watched him go from house to house in vain, ac- 
companied by his body-guard, and hailed with delight 
his successive disappointments. He heard the mur- 
murs, the derisions, the cutting taunts of the multitude. 
The weight of their every scowl fell upon him with 
crushing power, as he made his painful, useless journey 
through the piazzas and streets of the city. He suc- 
cessively increased the sum he had offered for hiring a 
horse and wagon, but to no purpose. The very poorest 
refused, although he offered the handsome sum of thirty 
francs for a journey of only a few hundred metres. 

On hearing this figure the crowd likened it to the 
thirty pieces of silver received by the traitor Judas. 
Finally, he met a woman who gave him the use of a 
horse and wagon for that sum. When the people saw 
this they became indignant beyond measure — the more 
so, because the woman was not by any means in needy 
circumstances. 

Jacomet moved on to the Grotto. The guards led the 
wagon along. An immense crowd followed them in 
silence. They were moody and disturbed in soul, and 
felt the electricity of the hurricane gathering within 
their indignant breasts. They arrived at the Grotto; 
but the wagon not being able to get so far yet, was left 
resting at a distance. 

Many and rich were the objects of devotion presented 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 149 

to the Virgin of the Grotto : wax candles set to burn in 
beautiful candelabra, crosses, statues, pictures, coronas, 
necklaces, jewels, carpets, thousands of bouquets, wicker 
baskets filled with copper, silver and gold coins amount- 
ing to several thousand francs. The Commissary threw 
down the balustrade erected by the workmen at the 
entrance to the Grotto. He seemed disturbed ; the 
guards were near him, and the crowd that had followed, 
eyed him earnestly, but made no noisy demonstrations : 
still there was something to be dreaded even in this ex- 
ternal calm. Jacoinet commenced to secure the money ; 
then he extinguished the candles one by one; heaped 
together coronas, crosses, carpets, and all other offer- 
ings with which the Grotto was filled, and handed them 
to the guards to carry to the wagon. The poor fellows 
obeyed — but with sorrow, and visible respect for the 
objects they touched. As the wagon was a short dis- 
tance off, the work was progressing slowly. Jacomet 
called a boy who happened to be a little in advance 
of the crowd: "You take this picture," he said, "and 
put it in the wagon." The boy reached out his hands 
mechanically, but another boy close to him shouted : 
" Wretch! what are you going to do? God will punish 
you" 

The boy drew back in terror, and no invitation of the 
Commissary could prevail upon him to advance. 

The movements of the Commissary were convulsive, 
When he had heaped the first bundle together, deem- 
ing it of little worth, he wished to cast it into the Gave, 
but a murmur of indignation from the people checked 
his purpose. It seemed he understood that the meas- 
ure of the people's patience was now full, and that the 
least provocation further might cause it to overflow. 



150 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

The bouquets had all been collected and deposited in 
the wagon. A moment later, a statuette was broken in 
the hands of the Commissary ; and this little incident 
produced a terrible reaction in the multitude. 

Haying accomplished the spoliation of the Grotto, 
Jacomet wished to tear down the balustrade. He 
needed an axe. Some workmen who were chopping 
wood near by, severally refused to accommodate him. 
Another man who was working a little further off, was 
afraid to refuse him the loan of his axe, and so let him 
take it. Jacomet went to work, and after a few blows 
the balustrade, which was not solidly built, fell to the 
ground. The sight of this act of violence, and of the 
man himself who had dared to do it, worked with more 
terrible influence upon the minds of the people than all 
the other outrages : there was a threatening clamor 
audible. The Gave flowed there rapid and deep : only 
a few moments more of indiscretion on the part of the 
people were needed, and the unhappy Commissary had 
been hurled into its waters. Jacomet turned round, 
and showed a face pale and confused with terror. 
" What I do," he said, with apparent sorrow, " I do not 
of my own will at all ; it displeases me very much in- 
deed to be obliged to perform this disagreeable duty. 
I am only following the Prefect's orders ; and I must 
needs obey higher authority, even when it is revolt- 
ing. I am not responsible for this act, and you ought 
not take any violent measures with me." 

Some voices were heard in the crowd saying : " We 
are quiet, and will commit no violence. We leave all in 
the hands of God." 

Thus we see that no disturbance happened, and the 
Commissary was permitted to carry off the votive offer- 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 151 

ings to the communal palace : the money was sent to 
the Syndic. In the evening, by way of protest against 
the Prefect's orders, an immense crowd assembled at 
the Grotto, filled it again with flowers, and illuminated 
it with wax lights, with this difference only, that each 
one kept his candle in his hand in order that the police 
might not get possession of it, and took it with him 
as he went away. 

Next day two incidents occurred, which made a great 
impression on the people. The woman who had hired 
out her horse and wagon to the Commissary, fell from 
a loft and broke a rib ; and the man who had given his 
axe to break down the balustrade of the Grotto, had 
both feet shattered by the falling of a beam he hap- 
pened to be lifting. The Free Thinkers recognized in 
these occurrences an irritating and unfortunate coinci- 
dence of events ; the people looked upon them as a pun- 
ishment of Heaven. 

And when the Grotto had been shut up, and access 
to it forbidden, the Justice of the Peace pronounced 
judgment in a manner so irritating, who was it that 
checked the people from rebellion ? Who could have 
restrained his just feelings of wrath on seeing such an 
array of military force at the Grotto —a thing of itself 
alone well adapted to tire out the patience of even the 
most quietly disposed ? Nay, more ; with regard to the 
strangers who had come a great way with their patients, 
in hopes of having them cured by the waters of the holy 
fountain, and who, having found that they would not be 
allowed to approach the venerated spot, with suppliant 
hands asked permission of the Syndic to be allowed 
to do so, but were refused, and were consequently neces- 
sitated to take back the invalids with hearts transfixed 



152 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

with a thousand griefs — with regard to these strangers, 
I ask, who kept them from rising in rebellion? The 
soldiers ? the guards ? the fear of Jaeomet ? Ah ! if 
the Catholic religion had not spoken to their hearts, and 
made them feel their obligation of respect for estab- 
lished authority — alas ! for the poor soldiers, the poor 
guards, and poor Jaeomet ! They would have seen in 
what a wretched plight an enraged multitude would 
have placed them. But religion spoke to their hearts, 
and that was enough. Oh! if the rulers of our day 
could only understand this truth ! 

MEDITATION 

I. Consider in what the intolerance of the Catholic 
Ch urch consists. It consists in condemning and hurling 
her thunders against every error that is opposed to the 
truths revealed by God, and by her proposed to our 
belief. And in this is there anything deserving of cen- 
sure ? Is it not well done ? Has not the Church a right 
and an obligation to do so ? What mother would not 
condemn the use of poisonous food, and remove it far 
from her children ? Jesus Christ, her master and spouse, 
has done the same. " He who believes shall be saved, 
but he who believes not shall be condemned," says 
Christ Himself; and the Church continues to say so. 
Learn hence wherein consists the intolerance of the 
Church : it is only a condemnation of every error hurt- 
ful to the eternal w r elfare of her children. 

II. The Church, on the other hand, does not approve 
of that spirit of intolerance, which not alone does not 
recognize the social standing of those who are in error, 
but even persecutes them. This is an intolerance of an 
entirely different nature. The Church is full <5f mercy 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 153 

for the individual, but intolerant of false doctrine. She 
acts like God Who detests our sins, but loves us as His 
creatures. " Death to error !" exclaims the Church with 
St. Augustine, " but may man live !" Has not the Church 
always acted so ? She is indulgent with human weak- 
ness, but she has never stood, and never will stand on 
the side of error. Look at the Papal States as an ex- 
ample. Have not the Popes, even in their own Eome, 
always condemned the errors of Judaism, and tolerated 
the Jews as individuals ? Dear reader, understand this 
truth weU ! ! ! 

IH. Very far from fomenting sedition, the Church 
condemns it, as contrary to the obedience due legitimate 
authority. Does not history teach you this in the past? 
Think and read good books and journals, and you will 
find such to be the case in your own time, as well. * * * 
The intolerance of individuals is not to be sought for in 
religion, and in the Church. * * * Open your eyes, 
reader, and you will understand me. 

Practice. — Eecite three Pater nosters for all the per- 
secutors and calumniators of the Catholic Church. 

Ejaculation. — Immaculate Mary of Lourdes, pray for 
us, and for the deluded calumniators of the Church. 



CHAPTEE IX. 

The Church and the State. 
"Let every soul be subject to higher powers." Rom. xiii. 1. 

In our days especially, the Catholic clergy are ac- 
cused of being insatiable of disposition, promoters of 
revolt amongst the people, enemies of authority, and 
sowers of discord. Such accusations are falsehoods 



154 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

and calumnies — the consequence of Voltaire's theory : 
" Calumniate, always calumniate ; something will stick." 
Pope Pius IX. has reproduced the answer to these calum- 
nies from the History of the Work of God at Lourdes. 
'• Certainly every one can comprehend from your his- 
tory," wrote the Sovereign Pontiff to Lasserre, " that 
the clergy labor diligently to preserve order among the 
masses of the people, and to calm their excited passions. 
Usque rebus sedulo adlaborare denim^ That such is 
the case, we shall see in this chapter. 

In the first place, when on the 21st of February the 
multitude shouted from the piazza in a threatening 
manner at the guard who was conducting Bernadette 
to the questorate, and were about to interfere, it was a 
priest, who, returning from church, and happening to 
be passing the way, made a sign to the people to 
be still, and counseled them to let authority have its 
way. 

Secondly, and when it was known in the city that orders 
had been issued, even on the 4th of May, for the spoliation 
of the Grotto, was it not the Cure of Lourdes, who, aided 
by his assistant priests, made his voice heard amongst the 
excited multitude, as he had already assured the Syndic 
and the imperial Procurator he would do ? The good 
pastor harangued his people in these words : " My 
friends, do not compromise your cause by acting dis- 
orderly. Be patient, and obey the law even though it 
is a bad one. If the most Holy Virgin is engaged in 
this matter, she well knows how to turn everything to 
her glory ; and your acts of violence, should you com- 
mit any, would be to betray a want of faith in the 
efficacy of her power. Look at the martyrs : did they 
revolt against the Emperors? And they triumphed 
precisely because they did not resist." 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 155 

The moral authority of the Cure was powerful, and, 
notwithstanding that every brain was not alone hot, but 
turning with indignation, and every heart fired with 
anger, still, although it was a mere chance, there was 
no disturbance in the city. And when at the grotto, 
while Jacomet was battering down the balustrade with 
the axe, the patience of the people had taken to flight, 
and the electricity of passion, so to speak, accumulated 
in them by so many injustices, so many insults to their 
faith and so many unbearable provocations, had ex- 
ploded with the noise of a tremendous battery, whence 
did these words deduce their origin? "We are calm: 
we will offer no violence : we leave all in the hands of 
God " — whence, we ask, did these words deduce their 
origin, if not from the good offices and exhortations of 
the clergy? And at the time of the closing of the 
grotto, and of the processions, every one had good rea- 
son to fear some ebullition of passion among the out- 
raged multitude. It is true that in every house peti- 
tions to the Emperor were being signed by one party, 
praying, in the name of liberty of conscience, for a re- 
vocation of the Prefect's decree ; but it is true also that 
on three or four occasions the fences which enclosed the 
Grotto, were during the night broken and cast into the 
Gave. In vain did Jacomet endeavor to discover the 
believers so respectless of authority, who had commit- 
ted this crime until now unknown in the code of French 
jurisprudence — namely, nocturnal prayers and the break- 
ing of the enclosure. One evening the news spread that 
the Emperor, or the minister, had asked prayers from 
Bernadette. M. Dutour gave a shout of triumph, and 
got ready to save the State. Three good women who, 
as it appeared, had indulged in such conversations, were 



156 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

dragged before the justices, and the Imperial Procura- 
tor demanded that to them should be meted out the 
full rigor of the French law. Despite his anger and his 
eloquence, the judges acquitted two of them, and fined 
the third only five francs. The Procurator appealed 
to the imperial court of Pau, but this seat of justice, 
laughing in ridicule at his anger, not only confirmed 
the acquittal of the two first women, but annulled the 
fine imposed on the third, and declared her free of 
any offence against the law. No doubt, the day this 
decision was known at Lourdes, the crowd that gathered 
around the limits of the enclosure, was immense. They 
shouted : Victory ! They could not contain themselves, 
and in their enthusiasm crossed the barriers in compact 
bodies, regardless of the calls and frightened appeals of 
the guards. The police disconcerted by the affront 
their dignity had suffered at Pau, and terrified in pres- 
ence of these thousands, drew back and allowed a free 
pass to the torrent of human beings. Next day the or- 
ders and remonstrances of the Prefect came to nerve 
the police for further action, prescribing, at the same 
time, more severe measures. The forces were increased : 
there were some rumors of dismissal afloat, and the 
rigor redoubled. 

Well then, with a population so numerous and ex- 
cited, what would have become of public order and 
safety, had not the clergy, and especially the pastor, 
who was loved and venerated by every one, raised their 
voices in favor of peace and quiet, and labored, to a 
man, to curb their aroused passions by the most potent 
aid of Catholic truth ? The example given in the little 
sermon noted above, was certainly turned to account in 
every word, Eebellion against authority, even when it 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 157 

is in fault, is not approved by the Church. Eeligion 
condemns violence ; and the Catholic clergy never cease 
to spread this doctrine among the people. 

Dear reader, draw from this chapter the following 

MEDITATION. 

I. Consider how the Catholic clergy, in regard of the 
mistakes and errors of the legitimate civil authority, 
never sacrifice their principles. "What is true, is true ; 
what is just, is just ; what is legitimate, is legitimate : 
but falsehood, injustice, usurpation, sacrilegious theft, 
receive also their fitting appellations, xlnd in this the 
clergy conform to the Catholic religion, which abomi- 
nates and condemns error, wherever found ; nor can they 
act otherwise without denying the faith, and betraying 
their divine ministry. Open your eyes, and glance 
around far and near, and you will see, dear reader, that 
the Catholic clergy always regulate their conduct in this 
way. Does not this move you to reverence and venerate 
them ? 

II. Consider how the clerical body submits to oppres- 
sion without sacrificing the principles of justice and 
honesty. Go, in fancy, to Eussia and Poland, and to 
other countries as well, and read or hear what the Sove- 
reign Pontiff, the Bishops, and the Priests say. * * * 
But they never have recourse to violence ; never excite 
the people to arms ; but on the contrary, when popular 
feeling is aroused, use all their power to bring about a 
calm. * * * Admire their patience ! 

III. Consider how the Catholic clergy, like Jesus on 
the cross, pray for, and bless their oppressors. Bead 
the prayers they recite on Good Friday for all, even for 
public sinners, and for the excommunicated, etc. At 



158 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

other seasons of the year the excommunicated are not 
prayed for publicly in the churches, although they have 
a place in the inmost recesses of the hearts of the clergy, 
who never fail to pray for them in private. * ' Did 

you know the prayers that the Priests, Bishops, and es- 
pecially the Pope, pour forth for their enemies and per- 
secutors * * the benedictions they bestow upon them ! 

Practice. — Eecite to-day five , Pater nosters, that 
Heaven may preserve virtue in the Catholic clergy. 

Ejaculation. — Interveni pro Clero. Immaculate Mary 
of Lourdes, pray for the clergy. 



CHAPTER X. 

The Ignorant Clergy in Connection ivith the Facts of 

Lourdes. 

" Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits if they be of God." 

St. John, iv., 1. 

Another calumny against the clergy is that they are 
ignorant, enemies of light and progress, promoters of 
superstition. From the facts of Lourdes quite the con- 
trary is apparent, as Pope Pius IX. said to Henry Las- 
serre : " It appears from your history, that the clergy, 
far from being abettors of superstition, are always slower 
and more rigid than others in pronouncing judgment on 
facts that seem to exceed the powers of nature — Glerum 
adeo abesse a superstitions fovenda at imo segniorem se 
prcebeat ac severiorem aliis omnibus in jvdicio edendo de 
factis, quae naturce vires excedere videntur" 

In this chapter we will consider especially the reserve 
of the " ignorant " clergy during the period of the ap- 
paritions ; in the next, we will speak of the cautious 
course pursued by the Bishop. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 159 

Scarce had the news of the apparitions at the grotto, 
bearing as they did upon religion, spread through the 
city of Lourdes, than the clergy, as was natural, became 
the most prepossessed and interested party concerning 
them. Still, with wonderful tact and good sense, they 
observed the most reserved and prudent neutrality. 
That the fact had soon engaged the attention of the pub- 
lic, was undeniable ; but what was the cause of this ? 
The Skeptics and Free Thinkers looked upon the appari- 
tions in one light only — namely, imposition ; the clergy, 
on the other hand, held a different view. The fact could 
possibly be natural, and in this case, its cause might be 
imposture, or some very unusual malady : but it could 
also be supernatural, and so the necessity arose to de- 
termine whether it owed its origin to diabolical, or to 
divine agency. God has His miracles, and the devil, 
his wonders. Such is the teaching of the Church ; and 
the clergy knowing this, therefore resolved to study the 
matter carefully in every its most minute circumstance. 
Hence, from the very outset, they received with the ut- 
most diffidence the report of so surprising a fact. Never- 
theless, it could be of divine origin, and so they would 
not presume to judge of it lightly. 

The child, whose name had suddenly become so cele- 
brated in the town, was perfectly unknown to the priests 
of the city. During the fifteen days since she had're- 
turned to her father's house, she had attended the cate- 
chism class, but the Ecclesiastic engaged to explain the 
Christian doctrine to the girls, had not yet noticed her. 
He might possibly have put her a question once or twice, 
but he did not know her name, nor was her personnel 
imprinted on his memory. Since then, the entire popu- 
lation was already running to the Grotfco, he, wishing to 



160 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

know her, called her by name, about the third day of 
the fortnight demanded by the Apparition. At the name 
of Bernadette Soubirous there arose in great humility a 
little girl, poor and meanly clad, who attracted attention 
not less by her simplicity, than by her extreme ignorance 
of everything relating to religion. 

The parish was at this time under the administration 
of the Abbe Peyramale, a man bordering on fifty years 
of age, and who had been for two years pastor and for- 
eign Vicar of the city and Canton of Lourdes. He was 
a man whom nature had formed with coarse habits, and 
perhaps, with a temper subject too often to fits of anger, 
but whom grace had toned down and softened. He was 
an irreconcilable enemy of vice, an apostle of the pulpit, 
a man regardless of self, but ever ready to be all to all, 
the very impersonation of beneficence — qualities of mind 
and heart that elicited the respect and love of the good, 
and the fear of the wicked. The Free Thinkers would 
say of him : " the Abbe is not always gentle, but he is 
charitable, and not attached to money. Notwithstand- 
ing his cassock, he is the very best of men." 

From the very first moment he had heard the appari- 
tions spoken of, before granting his assistant clergymen 
permission to go to the Grotto, and even before he went 
there himself, he resolved to wait until the facts related 
should have taken a definite character in one way or 
another, and the ecclesiastical authority pronounced 
judgment concerning them. Hence, while he instructed 
some intelligent and trustworthy laymen to go to the 
Grotto every time that Bernadette went, and report to 
him each day all that had happened there, he formally 
prohibited all the priests subject to his jurisdiction to 
be seen there, and he kept away himself. Mons. Lau- 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 161 

rence, Bishop of Tarbes, approved of this prudent step, 
and moreover, forbade all the ecclesiastics in his diocese 
to mix themselves, under any pretext, in the matter of 
the Grotto. Wherefore, whenever a priest went to the 
tribunal of penance or elsewhere for counsel regarding 
the pilgrimage to the Grotto, his answer was ready : — 
" We do not go there, and so cannot pronounce judgment 
upon matters which we do not sufficiently understand. 
But it is evidently lawful for each one of the faithful to 
go there and examine every thing, since the ecclesiastical 
authority has not yet interposed in the least. Go or 
not, we cannot either counsel or prohibit you." 

It happened, certainly, that some priest, having felt 
somewhat impatient about the matter, or having been 
pressed by the people, or moved by a natural curiosity 
that was legitimate, asked the pastor's permission to go 
to the Grotto. But Abbe Peyramale replied with firm- 
ness : " It is not suitable. We should not interfere in 
the matter unless it become manifest that some heresy 
or superstition may spring from it. If it be the work 
of God, He, in His omnipotence, does not stand in need 
of us to effect its triumph ; but if it be not the work of 
God, rest assured that the time will come when He will 
let us know that it devolves upon us as a duty, to do 
battle in His name. In a word, let us leave all to Prov- 
idence." 

And so, not a single priest went to the Grotto during 
the term of the apparitions ; the matter was allowed 
to progress on its own merits, and no one could say 
that the hand of man had ever taken part in it. 

Nay, Abbe Peyramale did yet more. When, on the 
23d of February, Bernadette, in the name of the Appari- 
tion, presented herself before him, he, wishing to make 



162 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

a first examination of the case for himself, received her 
with a diffidence stern and severe. — " Are not you," he 
said, "the daughter of Soubirous, the miller?" 

" Yes, I am, Rev. Father," replied the humble mes- 
senger of the Most Holy Virgin. 

"Very well, Bernadette, what business have you with 
me 9 * * * What do you come here to do ?" — rep- 
rehensions, not unaccompanied by asperity of utterance, 
while at the same time he fixed upon the child a look, 
whose cold reserve and severe scrutiny would have dis- 
concerted a mind that was in the least uncertain of its 
belief. 

" Eev. Father, I have come, on the part of the Lady 
who appears to me in the Grotto of Massabielle — " "Ah ! 
yes," replied the priest, suddenly interrupting her; "yes, 
it is well-known to me that you pretend to have visions 
and are running around the town with your stories. 
What does all this mean ? What happened to you a 
few days ago? What are all these wonderful things 
you speak of, but do not prove ?" 

Bernadette was pained, and certainly, in her inno- 
cence, was astonished at the severity of the pastor, 
who was always so good, so paternal, and so sweet to 
all his parishioners, especially to the poor and the little 
ones. Nevertheless, although the well-spring of her 
heart had been somewhat checked in its flow, she felt 
not discomposed, and gave a simple narrative of all the 
apparitions. The man of God was deeply moved by 
such simplicity and innocence, but did violence to his 
feelings. Had he been a private individual, he would, 
perchance, have said, " I believe you ;" but having been 
the pastor of a numerous flock, and the guardian of 
truth, he had force of character strong enough to keep 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 163 

his emotions in check, and to show a stern and severe 
expression of countenance in presence of the child. 
" Do you not know the name of the Lady?" 
" No sir ; she has not told me who she is." 
" The parties who believe you, imagine that she is the 
Blessed Virgin Mary. But have you well considered," 
he added, gravely, and in a tone apparently threatening, 
" that if you falsely pretend that you see the Mother of 
God in the Grotto, you are running the high road never 
to see her in heaven ? Here, you say that you alone 
see her. Above, if you are telling lies in this world, the 
other people will see her, while you, in punishment of 
your fraud, shall be ever far from her — ever in hell." 

"I do not know if she is the Holy Virgin, Bev. 
Father," replied the child; but I see the Vision as I 
see you, and she speaks to me as you do, and I am 
come to tell you, on her part, that she wishes a Chapel 
to be erected in her honor amid the Bocks of Massa- 
bielle, where she appears to me." 

The pastor looked at the child as she gave expression, 
with such perfect certainty, to this formal demand, and 
could not repress a smile. The idea that she was un- 
der illusion, was uppermost in his mind, and so he got 
her to repeat the precise words the Lady had used. 
— " After having confided to me a secret, which concerns 
me alone, and which I cannot reveal to any one," said 
Bernadette, " the Lady added, ' and now go tell the 
priests that I wish a Chapel to be erected here in my 
honor.' " 

The priest was silent for a moment. Finally, he 
thought that such might be the case ; and the very idea 
that the Mother of God had sent him, a poor, unknown 
priest, a direct embassy, filled his mind with agitation. 



164 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Then fixing his eyes steadily on the child, he asked 
himself : " But where is this child's guarantee, and what 
proof does she give me that it is. not the allurement of 
some error?" 6 Ii the Lady in question," he replied, 
" is really the Queen of Heaven, I am surely most happy 
to use all my exertions to have the Chapel built in her 
honor ; but your statement does not produce certainty. 
Nothing obliges me to believe you. I do not know who 
this Lady is, and before I engage in her interests I 
wish to know if she has a right to what she demands. 
Ask her, therefore, to give me some proof of her power." 

The window happened to be open, and the Cure turn- 
ing his gaze towards the garden with its dead growth of 
vegetation — for it was Winter, suddenly received an 
idea. * * * " You say that the Apparition stands 
upon the wild rose-bush that is growing from a fissure in 
the rock. We are now in the month of February. Tell 
the Lady from me that if she wishes the chapel to be 
erected she must make the rose-bush flower." And he 
dismissed the child. • 

This dialogue between the Cure and the little girl was 
soon known in all its particulars ; and it became the sub- 
ject of various commentaries. As for us, it is our duty 
only to note the extreme prudence of the Pastor of 
Lourdes in managing this matter. And, dear reader, I 
ask is it not true that his conduct in the business was 
quite the reverse of fomenting sedition ? 

Let us proceed. Next day, on her way from the 
Grotto, Bernadette called on the Cure, who immediately 
interrogated her. 

" Well, have you seen the Lady to-day also ? What 
has she said to you ?" 

" I have seen her, and I have said to her : ' the Rev. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. lfJ5 

Pastor requires you to give some proof, for example, 
to make the rose-bush beneath your feet flower, because 
my words are not sufficient for the priests, and they 
do not wish to confide in me.' Then she smiled, but 
spoke not. Next she told me to pray for sinners, and 
commanded me to descend to the bottom of the Grotto 
exclaiming three times — ' penance, penance, penance !' 
which I also repeated, dragging myself along on my 
knees down into the depths of the Grotto. There she 
revealed to me a second personal secret, and then dis- 
appeared." 

" And what did you find in the depths of the Grotto ?" 

" I looked about me after the Lady disappeared (be- 
cause while she is present I can attend to nothing be- 
side, she so completely absorbs me) and saw nothing 
except the rocks, and on the ground a few blades of 
grass growing from the mold." 

The priest remained thoughtful, and said to her : 
" Let us wait." 

And what else could he do ? What else did prudence 
require ?" 

On the 2d of March, Bernadette went to the Cure to 
speak to him a second time in the name of the Appari- 
tion. * ■.* * "The Lady wishes," she said, "that a 
Chapel be built, and that processions be made to the 
Grotto." 

Then the pastor believed, and went to inform the 
Bishop of the matter, for prudence required such a 
course. The facts spoke for themselves : the fountain, 
and the cures so generally noised abroad, that had been 
worked by its waters, made it apparent that Bernadette 
was right. Nevertheless, he well knew how to restrain 
his enthusiasm, and did not revoke the prohibition 



166 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

issued to his assistant priests forbidding them to go to 
the Grotto. Now, was there any precipitation in a 
course of conduct like this ? Did it foment supersti- 
tion ? It may be that the good man had already prayed 
in his heart to the Virgin of the Grotto who, although 
she had not vouchsafed to give her name, had still made 
herself sufficiently known by her maternal beneficence. 
But he was determined to use prudence and caution. 

It is true that his prudence had been often put to 
so severe a test that it seemed almost impossible for him 
not to depart from the course he had adopted, — as for 
example when he was called upon to defend Berna- 
dette in order that she might not be arrested and con- 
fined in a lunatic asylum. Again when some boys, 
at the time of the closing of the Grotto, pretended that 
they, too, had seen strange apparitions, having been 
urged to this course, in all probability, by the police in 
order to lessen the force of the genuine visions, he ex- 
pelled them in disgrace from the Sunday-school, declar- 
ing that if the like were repeated, even once, he would, 
on his own responsibility, make a strict investigation in 
order to discover the real instigators : and all these 
pretences stopped immediately. His reserve was put 
to another test about the termination of the appari- 
tions. The wonderful cures had so increased in num- 
ber that the whole population were aroused to en- 
thusiasm. The crowds that gathered together were in- 
numerable, and from all quarters demands were made 
for the ecclesiastical authority to give some decision. 
The Bishop remained silent ; and therefore, the Cure 
could not, and would not speak, although he had 
already believed in the reality of the apparitions. 

You believe, my reader, that what the pastor and the 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 167 

other clergymen of Lourdes did regarding the appari- 
tions was right to be done, and that all priests generally 
follow the same course ; make then the following 

MEDITATION ON CHRISTIAN PRUDENCE. 

I. Consider what prudence is. It is a cardinal virtue 
which teaches what ought to be done in any particular 
case, as right, and what ought to be avoided, as evil. 
The truly prudent man, therefore, before taking action, 
reflects and consults ; next determines his line of con- 
duct definitely ; and finally acts as he has resolved. An 
enemy to precipitation and too much haste in deciding 
and acting, he aims, too, at avoiding irresolution and 
scrupulosity— blushes not to take counsel in his doubts ; 
hence it is very difficult for him to err in any matter. 
Such is the prudence that the Catholic clergy preach — 
such the prudence they endeavor to practice. Do you 
act thus ? 

II. Consider the necessity of this virtue of Christian 
prudence. " Be you prudent as serpents," is our Lord's 
command in the Holy Gospel (Matt. x. 16), and often 
in the Sacred Scriptures is it repeated. Prudence is 
the science of the saints, the regulator of life, the mis- 
tress of good customs, the first fountain of all duty, 
teach the Holy Fathers of the Church. And do not 
natural reason and daily experience point out to you 
clearly the deplorable evils caused by imprudence ? Is 
it not from a want of prudence that you have so often 
fallen into grave mistakes and enormous crimes ? 

HI. Consider how indispensable this virtue is in regard 
to extraordinary things touching on religion— -that is to 
say, when judgment is to be given on supernatural 
facts. The Church commands extreme prudence to be 



168 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION* 

used in this case, and exhorts us to take counsel of well- 
balanced intellects and to form our judgments with mature 
deliberation, and with a slowness whose fruit is illumi- 
nation of the mental vision. * * * She requires us 
to enter upon a course of deep study, to seek cogent 
proofs — in fact, to have recourse to every means in 
order to discover the truth. * * * What a wonder- 
ful prudence ! What an example worthy of imitation ! 
Do you act in this manner ? Are you not one of those 
who imprudently believe in dreams, etc. ? Are you not, 
what is still worse, one of those who do not wish to consult 
pious, learned and prudent persons, * * especially the 
ministers of the Church, on questions of religion ? 

Besolve henceforth, to be prudent in your words and 
in your actions. 

Practice.— Commence from this very day to think 
always before you give utterance to any sentiment you 
may wish to manifest. 

Ejaculation. — Virgo prudentissima, orapro nobis. Most 
prudent and Immaculate Virgin, pray for us. 



CHAPTER XI. 

A New St. Thomas, Apostle. 

" Be not faithless, but believing." (John xx. 27). 

If the Clergy and the Pastor of Lourdes acted pru- 
dently in the case of the apparitions, it is due in great 
measure to the inspirations and counsel of the Bishop 
of the diocese. 

At that time the Episcopal See of Tarbes was occu- 
pied by Mons. Bertrand Severe Laurence, who died in 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 169 

Borne in the year 1870, during the Ecumenical Council 
of the Vatican. He had formerly been Superior of the 
small diocesan Seminary, and afterwards of the grand 
Seminary. He was subsequently appointed Vicar-Gen- 
eral of the diocese, and finally called to the See of 
Tarbes by the unanimous desire of the clergy and 
people. For twelve years he had been their Bishop, 
and consequently for about forty years had directed 
his clergy, who loved and respected him as a father, 
while he, in turn, from his inmost soul reciprocated 
their feelings with paternal tenderness. However, if 
his heart was warm, his head was very cool ; and if the 
former was regulated by sentiment, the latter subjected 
its every act to the most rigorous examen of cool rea- 
son. Before taking action he attentively weighed, not 
only the case in point, but also its circumstances and 
consequences ; wherefore was he slow in coming to a 
conclusion, not through any indecision of character, but 
from the effect of prudence. Well could the Gospel 
saying he applied to him : " Be ye prudent as the ser- 
pent, and simple as the dove." In the treatment of ex- 
traordinary occurrences, especially, he was an apostle — 
but a diplomatic apostle — nay, more, he was, as Las- 
serre calls him, an apostle, a holy apostle, but still the 
Apostle St. Thomas : before he believed, he wished to 
touch. 

Hence it is that when the Pastor of Lourdes informed 
him of the extraordinary occurrences at the Grotto, 
Mons. Laurence was not slow in taking a proper stand. 
He neither denied nor admitted the facts related. He 
assumed that state of mind which philosophers call 
methodical doiibt, and which Cartesius declares to be the 
best mental condition to start with in search of truth. 



170 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Wherefore, if on the one side he confirmed the pro- 
hibition issued by the Cure, forbidding the priests of 
Lourdes to go at all to the Grotto, and extended it to the 
entire diocese, thereby to keep far away all suspicion of 
clerical influence in the matter ; on the other, he acted 
in concert with the Cure, to the end that he would, as 
resolved, by means of reliable and irreprehensible wit- 
nesses, keep himself posted day after day on all that 
happened at the Grotto. Could he have adopted a more 
prudent course ? 

When then the Prefect, in the name and by the coun- 
sel of Minister Rouland, recurred to the Bishop telling 
him advisedly that the facts of Lourdes were superstitions; 
that the Grotto could be legally closed, in as much as it 
had been converted into a sort of chapel, because, accord- 
ing to the French law, no one can open an oratory, or any 
public place of worship, without the combined authoriza- 
tion of the civil and the ecclesiastical power; that it was 
expedient to check the young visionary in going to the 
Grotto, and not tolerate a state of things which was 
sure to serve as a pretext for new attacks against the 
clergy and religion (letter of M. Rouland to Prefect 
Massy, Apr. 12, 1858) — when the Prefect, we say, came 
to tell him this story, the Bishop soon grasped two ideas: 
1st. That the civil authority wished the clergy to act 
according to its dictation ; but Mons. Laurence had too 
high an esteem of his pastoral duties to become its tool: 
2d. That perhaps the Minister, but certainly the Pre- 
fect, was bent on having recourse to violence, and thus 
confront force against reason ; and this it was necessary 
to avoid. Wherefore, without departing from the pru- 
dent reserve he had resolved upon, and without precipi- 
tating a judgment, he simply gave instructions to the 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 171 

Pastor of Lourdes not to absolutely forbid Bernadette 
to return to the Grotto, for this would be to violate 
liberty of conscience, which is sacred, and which the 
churchman knows how to respect, even in a child ; but 
to counsel her strongly not to return there unless she 
felt called by the voice of heaven and moved on by an 
irresistible power, in order not to afford a pretext to the 
civil authority to enter upon the dangerous path of per- 
secution, towards which the clear-sighted Bishop most 
certainly saw it incline. 

Meantime, the month of April had set in. The Pre- 
fect's suit against the Bishop regarding the stables had 
arisen* The Bishop had got a verdict, and the Pre- 
fect, in order to pour out in an indirect way, his bile 
against the Ordinary delivered on the first of May, his 
famous discourse to the Syndics of the Canton of 
Lourdes ; caused the Grotto to be plundered, and en- 
deavored to secure the arrest of Bernadette : and the 
Bishop let him have his way. It was now about the first 
of June. The bathing season was approaching. The 
closing of the Grotto had been ordered. Legal pro- 
ceedings had been taken, and sentence of condemnation 
pronounced : but the Bishop remained silent the while, 
and studied facts. 

On the 3d of June, Bernadette made her first Com- 
munion, and soon after fell sick, worried, no doubt, by 
the incessant visits of strangers who came to have her 
relate her story of the apparitions. The Bishop took 
advantage of her indisposition in order to have her re- 
moved from Lourdes, and for this end advised the 
parents to send her to the waters of Cauterets — thus to 
take away from the city the great centre that had so 
engaged the popular mind. Accordingly, Bernadette 



172 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

was sent to the baths, where she remained two or three 
weeks, in company with her aunt, who defrayed all ex- 
penses, which were trifling at this season of the year. 

But Bernadette returned home about the end of June. 
Strangers, bathers, travelers, and the inquisitive from all 
the surrounding towns were going to the baths, and 
were, therefore, assembling in Lourdes. The natives 
and the strangers began to murmur against the Bishop 
and the clergy, as if it was through weakness or fear 
they had not dared to interfere in the matter of the ap- 
paritions ; and the discontent became general. 

" If the apparitions are false," said the people of the 
diocese of Tarbes, "is it not the Bishop's duty to in- 
struct the faithful, and put a stop to error? And if 
they are true, why does he not oppose the persecution 
of the faithful, and courageously defend the work of God 
against the malice of men?" 

"We are far from the place," the strangers added, 
" and cannot know with certainty the truth of the case. 
Why do not these good priests speak? Why do they not 
tell us in time, whether we ought to believe, or disbelieve 
the current reports?" 

And matters proceeded to such a pitch, that notwith- 
standing the great respect entertained for the character 
and person of the Bishop, popular feeling had begun to 
assume an anti-ecclesiastical aspect. Different Bishops 
and distinguished personages united in urging Mons. 
Laurence to give a decision. Pressed so from every 
side, he finally issued a pastoral on the 28th of July, by 
virtue of which he created an inquisitory commission to 
examine the facts of the Grotto : we will treat of this in 
the third part of our book. 

And now, dear reader, you who have dispassionately 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 173 

run over this chapter, tell me if I have not very suitably 
inserted it in this second part, in which we have re- 
viewed the trials of the work of God at Lourdes. The 
Bishop, too, seems to combat the works of God ! In- 
credible, yet true ! But what would have been the 
consequence, had he immediately believed ? Divine 
Providence had certainly its views in disposing the 
Bishop of Tarbes to act so leisurely. * * * And, in fact, 
such is the rule of the Church when she has to deal with 
matters that may possibly be supernatural. * * * And 
shall it still be said that the ministers of the sanctuary 
favor superstitions ? Acknowledge here that the clergy 
act most rigorously and slowly in pronouncing judgment 
on facts that may possibly be supernatural, as the Sove- 
reign Pontiff expresses it, and make the following 

MEDITATION ON THE KEASONABLENESS OF FAITH. 

I. Consider the condescension with which Jesus Christ 
treated the Apostle St. Thomas. He had said he would 
not believe the Besurrection of his Divine Master unless 
he was assured of it by his sight and touch. And Jesus 
appears to him after the resurrection, and invites him 
to put his finger into the holes the nails had made in His 
hands and feet, and his hand into the spear-gash in His 
sacred side. What condescension ! He, therefore, does 
not wish us to believe blindly the truths of faith ; and, 
far from prohibiting, He, in fact, counsels study and ex- 
amination, in order that we may become convinced of 
their dogmatic certainty. * * * Do you act so, my 
reader ? Do you labor to repel doubts on faith by study, 
and by taking counsel ? Are you not one of those who 
call themselves skeptics, while in reality they are simply 
ignorant? 



174 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

II. Consider the words of the Saviour : be not faithless, 
but believing. Incredulity displeases God as much as 
our faith pleases Him ; and reasonably so, because it 
offends His infinite veracity and infallibility. It dis- 
pleases Him also, inasmuch as it is an act against rea- 
son, with which He has endowed us : and, indeed, rea- 
son itself teaches that we should believe even incompre- 
hensible things from an infallible person. * * * Are 
you skeptical in this sense ? And if so, are you not un- 
reasonable besides ? 

III. Consider the consequence of this condescension 
evinced by Jesus Christ toward the Apostle St. Thomas, 
and of the words in which He addressed him. The 
conclusion deducible therefrom is, that we should be 
moved thereby to study our most holy religion as well 
for our own private good as for the welfare of our 
neighbor. Look at St. Thomas : by his apparent in- 
credulity he gave an occasion to the Divine Eedeemer 
to illuminate him, and at the same time to enlighten and 
convince all Christians regarding the truth of His resur- 
rection. And in accordance with this, St. Gregory teaches 
that the incredulity of St. Thomas is of more benefit to 
us than the faith of the believing disciples, because it has 
fortified our minds hi the faith. Admiring the bounty 
of God, draw thence this conclusion, viz. : that He per- 
mits us to examine the truths of faith, and assists us by 
convenient proofs to become convinced of them; and 
remember you shall be perfectly inexcusable if you do 
not profit thereby. 

Practice. — Meditate for one quarter of an hour on the 
reasonableness of our faith. 

Ejaculation. — Virgo fidelis, ova pro nobis. Immaculate 
Virgin of Lourdes, who wert so faithful, pray for us. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 175 

CHAPTER XII. 

Minister Rouland. 

"He wrote also letters full of blasphemy against the Lord." 

2 Paral., xxxii. 17. 

The last assault on the work of God at Lourdes was 
made by M. Rouland, Minister of Public Instruction 
and Worship. The Prefect and the Commissary of 
Police had in their reports to the Minister, exaggerated 
many circumstances touching the facts that had oc- 
curred at the Grotto. They had travestied them, and, 
as was said at Lourdes and all around, had even pro- 
moted burlesque performances ; and this is how they 
worked : 

After the last apparition with which Bernadette had 
been favored — that is, from the date of the 16th of July 
onward — on three or four occasions some children and 
some women pretended that they had seen visions like 
Bernadette. Was this the truth ? Was it the devil who 
was trying to bring discredit on the works of God by the 
manifestation of wonders of his own? The people 
with their thousand eyes steadily fixed on all the cir- 
cumstances, saw in them so many dark contrivances of 
the police to bring the miracles of the Grotto into dis- 
repute ; and this opinion took a strong hold on the 
minds of the inhabitants of Lourdes and of all the sur- 
rounding towns. The two or three boys who pretended 
that they had seen apparitions, mixed up with their ac- 
counts—incoherent enough of themselves— all sorts of 
extravagances. One day they applied a ladder to the 
timber fence which closed in the Grotto, and under the 
pretext of offering their services to the pilgrims, of 
touching the water for them, of putting their rosaries in 



176 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

contact with the holy rock, they received and appro- 
priated the articles presented. It is very remarkable 
that Jacomet, who could so very easily have had them 
arrested, did not interfere with them at all. He did not 
seem to know anything about these strange scenes, 
these ecstasies, these violations of the decree. He was 
never present while these things were occurring. All 
this attracted the notice of the multitude, who said 
openly and fearlessly : " Baron Massy, seing that pub- 
lic opinion is going against him, and being now con- 
vinced by experience that he cannot by any power of 
his arrest the progress of the work of God, is endeavor- 
ing to bring dishonor on it at the outset by abetting 
visionaries, to whom he will afterwards give great 
notoriety in the newspapers, and whom he will bring 
under the notice of the government itself." 

The Pastor of Lourdes, moved by these scandals, ex- 
pelled the boys in disgrace from the Sunday-school, 
declaring that if the like should happen even once 
more, he would himself make a strict inquiry in order 
to discover the real instigators. Wonderful power of 
the Cure ! The vision ceased ipso facto. 

Towards the close of July the Bishop of Tarbes re- 
ceived a ministerial despatch from M. Rouland, touch- 
ing precisely on the reports he had heard from the 
Minister, regarding,the facts of Lourdes, from which it 
appeared that many scandals were occurring at the 
Grotto : women of doubtful character, boys who mimic 
the priests, grotesque ceremonies, etc., and terminating by 
asking the Mons. Bishop if he did not deem it expedient 
to publicly censure such profanations. 

Who does not see in this a crafty attack upon the 
work of God ? Disturbances are created, in order to 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 177 

have a pretext for smothering it in tolo. . . . And 
the Bishop is called upon to issue his condemnation. 

Monsignore immediately replied to the Minister, lay- 
ing before him the real state of things, placing the case 
in its true light, and depicting it in its proper colors. 

The Minister had said to the Bishop, " condemn," but 
the Bishop frankly replied, " I will examine," and called 
M. Rouland's attention to the lately issued pastoral, by 
virtue of which he had appointed an examining Com- 
mission, to deliberate on the question of Lourdes, in 
accordance with whose decision he would pronounce 
judgment. 

The Minister saw his mistake, and said no more. 

Observe here, reader, the imprudence, not to say the 
impudence, of those wiseacres of the world. M. Bou- 
land had himself written to the Prefect about the com- 
mencement of June, to put a stop at any cost to the 
superstition, as he termed it. Alas! poor worldly wis- 
dom ! But, what if, instead of being a superstition, it 
is a true apparition — a true miracle — truly a work of 
God ? Is it, then, prudent to condemn it without ex- 
amination, to stifle it without knowing its nature ? Is 
it fair to stop it at any cost ? Do you, then, mean to 
command God? If not, you assert* that, at the desire 
of the King, God has forbidden the working of miracles 
here ! ! ! 

But it is written : There is no wisdom, there is no 
prudence, there is no counsel that can prevail against 
the Lord (Prov. xxi., 30) ; it is written of the Divine 
Wisdom that it reacheth from end to end mightily, and 
ordereth all things sweetly (Wisdom v iii., 1) ; it is 

* E da parte del Ee a Dio proibito 
Di miracoli fare in qnesto sito ! ! ! 



178 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

written, too, — I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and 
the prudence of the prudent I will reject (1 Cor. 1, 19). 
As the work of God leveled with the dust every other 
obstacle raised against it, so, too, did it resist and over- 
come the attacks of the Minister. Nay, more ; the 
Sovereign Pontiff, in his Brief to Henry Lasserre, to 
which we have more than once called the reader's atten- 
tion, says that Divine Providence is accustomed to em- 
ploy worldly malice and audacity in order to make His 
works shine out more brilliantly ; and this we shall see 
in the following part. 

For the present, let us conclude by making this 

MEDITATION ON BLASPHEMY. 

I. Consider ivhat blasphemy is. It is to speak con- 
tumeKously against God. 1st. It is an utterance of the 
mind or of the heart, and is, therefore, internal ; or of 
the mouth, and then it is external. Hence we see that 
blasphemy can be committed in both these manners. 
2d. It is contumelious, for as God is everywhere, any 
word spoken against Him is stamped with an oral con- 
tempt of His presence. 3d. It is against God viewed 
either in Himself or in His creatures, inasmuch as they 
bear relation to Him, or possess some divine perfection. 
Hence it is a blasphemy to utter words derogatory to 
the honor of the Most Holy Virgin, Mother of God, or 
of the Saints who are the friends of God. Bear in mind 
this definition of blasphemy, and examine your con- 
science to see if you have ever been guilty of it. 

II. Consider the ways in which blasphemy is committed. 
They are chiefly four. 1st. To attribute to God a qual- 
ity He has not, or to deny Him a quality peculiarly His 
own. 2d. By assigning to creatures an attribute which 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 179 

belongs to God alone — for example, omnipotence, in- 
finite beauty, infinite goodness, etc. 3d. When the at- 
tributes which God possesses are spoken of disparag- 
ingly, or with mockery. 4th. When the Saints, holy 
things, such as the Sacraments, the Gospels, etc., are 
disrespectfully spoken of, or undervalued. It would 
also be blasphemy — although improperly so called, 
nevertheless a most heinous crime — to dishonor God or 
His Saints by any irreverent treatment of their holy 
images. Are not you guilty in some one of these ways ? 
Have you not at least often taken the names of God, of 
the Most Holy Virgin, and of the Saints in vain ? 

III. Consider the gravity of the crime of blasphemy. 
St. Thomas says that blasphemy committed in the first 
mentioned manner, namely, through hatred of God, is 
of all others the most enormous crime (2. 2. q. 13. art. 
3.); St. Jerome declares that every other crime is light 
when weighed in the balance against blasphemy, and 
St. Augustine teaches that blasphemy is a more heinous 
crime than the Deicide committed by the Jews. Hence 
we see why it is that God in the old law commanded 
that the blasphemer should be stoned to death by the 
infuriated people— nor was there the slightest chance of 
pardon for such a culprit (Lev. xxiv) ; and in every age 
has He fulminated the thunders of His severest judg- 
ments against those who have been guilty of blasphemy. 
. . . The Most Holy Madonna wept over this crime at 
Salette. . . . Enter into yourself, dear reader, and if 
your conscience, as I hope, reproves you not in this re- 
gard, excite yourself to detest from your heart the bare 
mentioning of the name of God in vain. Eesolve, too, 
to correct rigorously, and on the moment, your de- 
pendents, friends and acquaintances, etc., and acquire 



180 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

the habit of repairing by devout and fervent ejacula- 
tions, the injury inflicted on the honor of God by blas- 
phemy. 

Practice. — Recite the series of ejaculations commenc- 
ing with the words : May God be blessed, etc. 

Ejaculation. — May the names of Jesus and Mary be 
always praised. 



PART III. 

The Triumphs of the Work of God at Lourdes. 



INTRODUCTION. 

Dear reader, as much as yon have been pained by the contempla- 
tion of the trials of every kind, which were brought about by the 
prudence or the malice of men, in order to mar the divine work of 
Lourdes, so much now will you be consoled by assisting at its tri- 
umphs. Yes, it is time for the dark clouds that have brooded over us 
so long to pass away, and the gladsome light of the sun to illuminate 
our skies — and this glorious change in the scenes we are describing 
we shall see to our great consolation, in the perusal of this third 
part of our history. 



CHAPTER I. 

Liberty of Prayer. 

"By me kings reign." Prov. viii., 15. 

Whilst the work of God at Lourdes was abandoned 
by the Clergy and the Bishop, and left to struggle alone 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 181 

with enemies of every kind; whilst the Prefect, the 
Commissary of Police, and the Minister himself, sought 
to stamp it out by measures the most violent, arbitrary 
and brutal; whilst the libertine press of all Europe at- 
tacked, and the good Catholic papers defended it ; whilst* 
in a word, the cause of God seemed lost to hope — to 
such an extent, in fact, that the Bishop of Tarbes, 
although having instituted an Examining Commission 
which was immediately to enter upon its labors, had 
by a countermand, suspended its entering in session, 
precisely because of the difficulties which he saw threat- 
ening its free action, there was a powerful man in 
France, who had not so far interfered in any way in the 
matter of Lourdes, and who, no matter what his re- 
ligious, philosophic and political ideas might have been, 
was perfectly impartial. Whether the apparitions were 
true, or false, was a matter of indifference to him. He 
was not interested in either hypothesis ; and, therefore, 
could, and ought to deal reasonably with justice and 
truth. He would not violate justice, or outrage truth, 
except to gain something in the way of fortune, or to 
gratify his ambition or his pride. This man was Napo- 
leon III., Emperor of the French. 

Phlegmatic by nature, mute as the granite Sphinxes 
that kept guard at the portals of Thebes, he kept track 
of the polemical attitude of the journals regarding the 
facts of Lourdes, calmly viewing the contest oscillate in 
the balance, and waiting for the public conscience, so 
to say, to give him its decision. 

It was precisely at this time— about the middle of 
September, that Mons. Salinis, Archbishop of Auch, and 
another distinguished gentleman of the town, went to- 
gether to see the Emperor, who, at the time, was at 



182 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Biarritz. Meantime, Napoleon had received petitions 
from different parties praying him, in virtue of the most 
sacred rights of citizens, to revoke immediately Baron 
Massy's extreme and arbitrary measures. 

One of the petitions ran thus: " Sire, we do not pre- 
tend, by any means, to decide the question of the appa- 
ritions of the Virgin, although in consequence of the 
wonderful miracles, which all in this town assert they 
have themselves witnessed, every one believes in the 
reality of these supernatural manifestations. One thing- 
is certain and beyond all question — namely, that the 
spring, which gushed forth unexpectedly, and whose 
absolute hurtlessness scientific analysis proclaims, has 
still been closed against us, although no person has 
ever suffered any evil therefrom : nay, it is equally cer- 
tain that very many assert that they have regained 
their health by the use of its water. In the name of 
the rights of conscience, which are independent of all 
human power, permit the faithful to go there to pray 
if they think fit. In the name of the most simple dic- 
tates of humanity, let the sick be free to go there in 
order to recover their health, if such is their hope. In 
the name of liberty of intellect, allow persons of intelli- 
gence who are seeking for light to illuminate them in 
their study and examination, to have free access there 
that they may be able to detect error, or discover the 
truth." 

The Emperor had not up to this known the entire 
truth, because certainly Minister Bouland had no inten- 
tion of ever manifesting it to him: it was at Biarritz that 
this flood of light flowed in upon his mind. It is well 
known that Napoleon III. was not a communicative 
monarch: seldom did he reveal his thoughts by a word; 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 183 

it was by work they were manifested. Seeing the ab- 
surd acts of violence by means of which the Minister, 
the Prefect, and their agents were, as far as in them 
lay, bringing discredit upon the imperial power, his eyes 
threw off their false coloring, and became illuminated, 
so to say, by a flash of cool anger. He shrugged his 
shoulders convulsively, and the lowerings of profound 
uneasiness passed across his brow. He pulled the bell 
violently. * * * * « Take this to the Telegraph Office," 
he said. * * * * It was a short despatch to the Prefect 
of Tarbes, commanding him, in the Emperor's name, 
instantly to revoke the decree regarding the Grotto of 
Lourdes, and to give freedom to the people. 

The theory of the electric spark which, by means of 
the wires that thread the world over, is sent with the 
rapidity of hghtning from pole to pole, is known to every 
body. The telegraph, as scientists tell us, is nothing 
else than the electricity of the heavens. On that day, 
Baron Massy was of the same mind with men of 
science. The imperial telegram falling suddenly before 
him, troubled and overwhelmed him as much as the un- 
expected descent of a thunderbolt upon his house could 
have done. He could not believe his eyes. The more 
he reflected, the more did it seem impossible for him to 
retract publicly. Nevertheless, he must swallow the 
bitter pill, or hand in his resignation. Fatal alternative ! 
I must say that the hearts of public officials have very 
often to suffer extreme pain. 

In the vague hope, however, that the Emperor would 
tone down his decision, he wrote to him on the matter, 
interposing at the same time, M. Eouland as a mediator. 
Napoleon was regardless of both ; nay, more; this very 
step gave him to understand that the Prefect had dared 



184 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

to misunderstand his orders, and defer their execution. 
He sent another despatch from Biarritz, conceived in 
terms that allowed of neither comment, nor delay. 
Baron Massy had now only to choose between his pride 
and his office. He made the painful choice, and it was 
sufficiently humiliating for him to continue Prefect. 

He next endeavored to conceal his defeat, and not 
give up his colors publicly. Whether through some in- 
discretion at the office of the Prefecture, or through the 
medium of persons of distinction who went to Biarritz, 
the people became vaguely informed of the true mean- 
ing of the orders issued by the Emperor. They became 
the subject of general conversation. The Prefect knew 
this and still did not confirm or deny them. He ordered 
Jacomet and his agents to issue no more verbal proces- 
ses, and to discontinue all surveillance. He thought 
that by following this line of conduct, the decree would 
die a natural death. But he was deceived from the very 
outset. The people began to fear some new snare, and 
continued in general to respect the decree. The position 
of the Prefect was becoming dangerous, and he was 
afraid of receiving at any moment a terrible dispatch 
that would hurl him into nonentity. It was now the end 
of September. M. Fould, Minister of Finance, chanced 
to pass through Tarbes and Lourdes at the time. Did 
he increase the Prefect's fears ? Was he the recipient 
of another telegram fraught with more terrific thunder ? 
Nobody knows. One thing is certain, and it is this, that 
on the 3d of October the Prefect changed his entire 
programme. Next day, in the name of the Emperor, he 
gave orders to the Syndic of Lourdes to revoke the 
decree publicly, and to have Jacomet remove the sign- 
posts and the barriers. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 185 

M. Lacade,, Syndic of Lourdes, did not hesitate long, 
and on the 5th of October he had the revocation of the 
decree of the 8th of June proclaimed by the sound of 
trumpet and the beating of drums. 

This was the first triumph of the work of God at 
Lourdes — the revocation of the decree prohibiting the 
people to pray at the Grotto, and drink the water of the 
fountain. 

Do you not clearly discern here, dear reader, the effi- 
cacy of the prayers of the righteous? Make then sin- 
cerely the following 

MEDITATION ON THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 

I. Consider how prayer is efficacious, because based on 
the promises of God. Lift up your voice to me and I 
will hear you, says the Lord in the Old Testament (Job 
xxxiii. 3). Call upon me and I will liberate you, (Psalm 
xlix, 15), and Jesus Christ repeats in the New Testa- 
ment : Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall 
find, knock and it shall be opened unto you (Matt. vii. 
7). Your Father, who is in Heaven, will give good 
things to them that ask Him (ib. 11). He who asks re- 
ceives, and he who seeks finds (Luc. xi. 10). And in a 
thousand other places in the Sacred Scriptures, is the 
same promise repeated. Can God be wanting in the 
fulfillment of His promises ? Do you believe this from 
your heart? 

II. Consider the efficacy of prayer proved by fact 
How many have prayed, and have obtained their 
petitions ? * * * Adam obtained the grace of conver- 
sion. * * * Abel, of dying in the state of innocence. 
* * * Abraham, faith, etc.; and in the New Testament 
all who asked graces of Jesus Christ, had their petitions 



186 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

immediately answered. The Samaritan received the 
grace of conversion, * * * the woman who had been 
suffering from hemorrhage, was cured, * * * the 
Cananean woman obtained health for her daughter, 

* * * the Centurion the same blessing for his servant, 

* * * upon the lepers and the blind man were be- 
stowed the favors for which they prayed. And do we 
not read in ecclesiastical history, and in the Lives of the 
Saints, of thousands and millions of graces obtained by 
prayer ? * * * Have not you yourself obtained many 
blessings through that medium? * * * Why then 
have you so little confidence in its efficacy ? 

III. Consider the conditions necessary to render prayer 
efficacious: they are four. 1st, attention ; 2d, humility ; 
3rd, faith, by which we believe the bounty of Grod, and 
His fidelity to His promises ; 4th, the hope of obtaining 
the graces prayed for. And you, who complain of not 
having received the graces you have asked — do you 
observe these four conditions while pouring forth your 
prayers? Eeflect, and see if the words of the Apostle 
St. James, are not applicable to you: " You ask, and 
receive not ; because you ask amiss." James, iv. 3. 

Examine yourself on the manner in which you pray, 
and resolve immediately to remedy its defects. 

Practice — Recite your morning and evening prayers 
to-day with the four conditions aforesaid. 

Ejaculation. — Domine, doce nos orare. Luc. xxi. 1. 
O my God, and Immaculate Virgin of Lourdes, teach 
us to pray. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 187 

CHAPTER II. 

A Grand Fiasco. 

"I have seen the wicked highly exalted, and lifted up like the 
cedars of Lihanus. And I passed by, and lo he was not: and I 
sought him, and his place was not found." Psalm xxxvi. 35. 

Although the divine rewards and punishments are 
not ordinarily meted out in due proportion to merits 
and demerits, as is the case in the next life ; neverthe- 
less, it often happens that people get a foretaste of 
them even in this. On the other hand, the triumph of 
the work of God would not have been completed at 
Lourdes by the bare revocation of the famous decree of 
the 8th of June. Something more was needed, and God 
brought it about. 

On the morning of the 5th of October, the revocation 
of the decree was published, and in the afternoon, 
Jacomet, the famous Commissary of Police, went with 
his guards to the Grotto to remove the signboards and 
barriers. The crowd had already assembled, and was 
every moment visibly increasing. Some were praying 
on bended knees, and made every effort not to be dis- 
tracted by the noise outside, while pouring forth their 
thanks to God for having put an end to the scandal 
and the persecutions. Others stood discoursing in a 
low tone — awaiting, not without emotion, what was 
about to take place. Women in great numbers were 
telling their beads. Many, having brought bottles or 
other vessels with them, wished to fill them on the very 
spot whence the fountain had sprung. They threw 
flowers over the barriers into the Grotto: but the bar- 
riers themselves no body touched. It was the duty of 
those parties who had publicly put them up in opposi- 



188 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

tion to the power of God, to come now to take them 
down in public, in meek subjection to the will of a man. 

Jacomet arrived. Although, in spite of himself , people 
detected in his personnel a certain embarrassment pro- 
duced by anger, and read, in the pallor of his face, deep 
internal humiliation ; still, contrary to general expecta- 
tion, he had not the ghastly aspect of a conquered man. 
Escorted by his agents, who were furnished with axes 
and spades, he advanced with head erect, and with sin- 
gular affectation, clothed as he was in gala costume, 
with his bandoleer girded around his waist, and flapping 
against his parade sword, passed through the people, 
and took up his position in front of the barrier. An 
undefined commotion of feeling, accompanied by indis- 
tinct murmurings and an occasional groan, had com- 
menced to actuate the multitude. Jacomet ascended a 
piece of rock, and endeavored to excuse himself to the 
people for what he had done, imprudently hinting, too, 
that it was the Prefect and himself who had caused the 
decree to be revoked, etc. The people suffered him to 
speak, and preserved the coolest silence. Some little 
boy muttered and laughed. Jacomet was visibly en- 
raged at his failure. He gave orders to tear down the 
barriers, and it was promptly done. 

The City of Lourdes was filled with emotion. On 
that afternoon the people went to, and returned from 
the Grotto by the direct path. In front of the rock, the 
faithful beyond number, were on their knees. Hymns 
were sung, and litanies recited in honor of the Most 
Holy Virgin ; while each one drank of the water of the 
fountain. The faithful were now free. God had con- 
quered. 

But it was not yet the end. In consequence of what 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 189 

had happened, Prefect Massy could not remain in the 
town; and, in fact, the Emperor did not hesitate to send 
him to the first vacant prefecture. It was singularly 
remarkable that the first vacancy was at Isere, the capi- 
tal of Grenoble. Does the reader remember what Pre- 
fect Massy had said at the commencement of the 
apparitions of Lourdes ? " Had I been Prefect of Isere 
at the time of the pretended apparitions of Salette, I 
would have taken immediate action with regard to them, 
and the legend would have been settled as the one of 
Lourdes shall soon be. All this phantasmagoria shall 
fall into nothing." 

Poor, simple man ! The events of Lourdes triumphed 
and Prefect Oscar Pardoux Massy fell, before the end 
of the year, and was within a hair's breadth of becoming 
a nonentity. * * * And Divine Providence only took 
him away from the Madonna of Lourdes to send him to 
the Madonna of Salette. Such a course is a verification 
of what the Scripture says of the Divine Wisdom : 
Ludens in orbe terraram — playing throughout the uni- 
verse. Is this chance ? ' 

The Most Holy Madonna wished to open the eyes of 
poor, proud Prefect Massy. She wished to turn to good 
all the evil he had done. She wishes now to take his 
soul to paradise, if it be not yet there, for he is dead. 

Something similar happened to M. Domenick Jaco- 
met, Commissary of Police. He was appointed to the 
same office in another department ; and we must say, 
as we have already observed, that in this, his proper 
sphere of action, he aided, by his rare sagacity, in de- 
tecting many malefactors— a trait in his official char- 
acter, which was paramount in procuring for him a good 
promotion to the Central Commissariate of one of the 



190 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

principal cities of France, where he continues to dis- 
charge the duties of his office with ability and tact. M. 
Yitale Dutour, Imperial Procurator, was also called to 
other functions, and gradually received preferment. 

What a withering blow it was for those who had 
shouted victory, and believed their cause triumphant, to 
see themselves overcome by the work of God, now vic- 
torious at Lourdes. 

Enter into yourself, and make the following 

MEDITATION ON THE VANITY OF EAETHLY THINGS. 

I. Consider the vanity of riches. Many seek them 
passionately, ardently, and with a mind disturbed by 
impatience and solicitude, and still can never find them. 
* * ' * How they are undeceived at the hour of 
death ! Many others acquire wealth, and by a reverse 
of fortune lose it. * * * How painful ! Many more 
seek riches, find, and possess them ; but death removes 
them with a single blow. * * * What an outrage ! 
Do you belong to any one of these three classes ? 

II. Consider the vanity of honors. What madness is 
shown in striving to obtain some step in society, some 
post, some honorable position, which often is never 
reached ! * * * What foUy , others gain the end 
in view after a long struggle, and by a calumny, or a 
change of superiors, or by some disgrace, lose it. *" * * 
How their fanciful creations vanish ! Others, just in 
possession of the object for which their hearts have so 
much yearned, are then called upon by death, and 
forced to bid it farewell. * * * What anguish ! 
What solicitude do people feel in order to make a good 
appearance at a ball, to render themselves pleasing to 
certain persons, to cut a figure. * * * To-day they 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 191 

are troubled about worldly trifles ;— to-morrow they 
are in the grave. 

III. Consider the vanity of pleasures. How fleeting 
they are ! How short ! How fanciful ! Look at Solo- 
mon, who wished to enjoy every pleasure. * .* * 
He afterwards said : " I have seen, enjoyed, and have 
had experience of everything under the sun, and, lo ! 
all is vanity and affliction of spirit, except to love God, 
and serve Him alone." * * * Have not you yourself a 
thousand times experienced the unmasked worthlessness 
of a pleasure you had enjoyed, and the pain and remorse 
which followed it ? What blindness not to perceive even 
yet the vanity of all worldly aspirations ! 

Practice. — Give a private alms to some poor person in 
order to obtain from God a knowledge of the vanity of 
earthly things. 

Ejaculation— O Jesus, O Mary Immaculate, I wish to 
love you with my whole heart. 



CHAPTEE HE. 

The Investigating Commission. 
"He that doth truth, cometh to the light." — John iii. 21. 

The work of God at Lourdes had triumphed over the 
assaults and threats of the Prefect of Police, the 
Syndic, and the Justice of the Peace. These distin- 
guished personages having been now removed, the com- 
munal district, so to speak, was disincumbered of the 
harrassings whereby the Commission could possibly 
have been impeded in its sessions. The Grotto was now 
open. The witnesses could give their testimony without 



192 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

fear, and the sick could be brought to the fountain to 
make free use of its waters. It was now time to exa- 
mine facts. 

The Church, in such circumstances as these, asks 
nothing but liberty to ascertain the truth ; and, in fact, 
she went to work immediately. 

By virtue of his pastoral of the 28th of July, the 
Mons. Bishop of Tarbes had constituted the investigat- 
ing Commission ; but it must not be supposed that by 
this act he had given his episcopal decision. He had 
done nothing of the kind. Having seen during the 
months of August, September and October that the 
minds of the people were yet too much excited, the 
Bishop suspended the faculties extended to the Com- 
mission ; and although his Pastoral had enjoined upon 
it the duty of commencing its labors immediately, he 
did not allow it to enter in session until the 17th 
of November. Before speaking of the labors of the 
Commission, let us examine the wisdom of the Pastoral 
that had created it, and the profound philosophy of the 
Church in searching after truth. We will, therefore, re- 
produce here the principal parts of the Pastoral afore- 
said: 

" Art. I. — In our diocese of Tarbes we have have in- 
stituted a Commission to discover : 1st. If by means of 
the water of Lourdes, whether drank or used as a lotion, 
certain cures have been effected, and if these cures can 
be explained naturally, or ought to be attributed to a 
truly supernatural cause ; 2d. If the visions, which Ber- 
nadette says she has seen in the Grotto, be real, and in 
such case if they can be explained naturally, or if they 
bear a divine and supernatural character; 3d. If the 
Apparition have made known demands and manifested 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 193 

intentions to the little girl, and if she have been 
charged to make known said demands and intentions— 
and to whom, and what is their tendency ; 4th. If the 
fountain now flowing in the Grotto existed previous to 
the visions which Bernadette says she has seen. 

" Art. II. — The Commission shall present to us such 
facts only as are based upon solid proofs, and send us 
substantiated reports accompanied with its own views 
of the case. 

"Art. III.— The Very Rev. Vicars of the diocese 
shall be the principal correspondents of the Commission, 
and they are requested to duly note: 1st. The facts 
that have taken place in their respective vicarages ; 2d. 
The persons who shall be able to give testimony regard- 
ing them ; 3d. Those who by their science are capable 
of throwing light on the deliberations of the Commis- 
sion; 4th. The physicians who had attended the sick 
previous to their cure. 

" Art. IV.— The testimony shall be given upon oath. 

" Art. V. — We earnestly recommend the Commission 
frequently to call into its midst men well versed in 
the sciences of medicine, physics, chemistry, geology, 
etc., and hear them discuss the difficulties that may 
arise during debate upon certain views, and become 
acquainted with their ideas concerning them. The 
Commission must leave nothing undone, in order to be- 
come enlightened, and to reach the truth, whatever it 
may be. 

" Art. VI. — The Commission shall be composed of 
nine members of the Capitol of our Cathedral, of the 
Superiors of our Seminaries (grand and small), the 
Superior of the Missionaries of the Diocese, the Cure 



194 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

of Lourdes, and the professors of dogma, morals and 
physics in our Seminary. The professor of chemistry 
in our small Seminary shall often be attentively heard. 

; 'Abt. VII. — The Commission shall enter upon its 
labors immediately." 

Who will not now admire the wisdom of these regula- 
tions ? The question to be decided belongs on one side 
to Religion ; and, lo ! the priests, the canons, the pastors, 
the professors of theology — men all well read in sacred 
lore, are engaged to examine it. It bears, too, on the 
other side, upon the positive sciences and the medical 
art ; and, lo ! we see men deeply read in these branches 
called in to aid in its development. What disinterested- 
ness, what methodical indifference in the solution of 
the problem : the very best state of mind, according to 
Cartesius and all sound philosophers, when we are in 
search of truth. A man of such sentiments seeks the 
truth, and the truth only, whatever it may be. And 
such a one was the Bishop. Are the apparitions true ? 
Then, he will admit them ? Are they false ? Then, he 
will condemn them. Moreover, he waits four months 
from the time of the last apparition, before permitting 
the Commission to enter upon its labors, fearing that 
the excited state of public feeling and the other difficul- 
ties might tend to a prejudging of the truth. 

Is it not true, my reader, that the Church, when hav- 
ing to treat of facts that may be supernatural, walks, 
while studying them, with leaden steps — that is to say, 
with the greatest slowness, as if she had got feet formed 
of that heavy metal? Enter into yourself, and make 
the following 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 195 

MEDITATION ON THE MEANS OF ACQUIRING FAITH. 

I. Consider that the first means of acquiring the fc^th 

is prayer. Prayer is the first condition of all God's 
gifts, and, consequently, of faith, too, which is the most 
precious and fundamental deposit in the treasury of God. 
Have you asked of God the grace of faith ? Have you 
asked it with the necessary conditions— especially with a 
lively confidence and with a profound and sincere de- 
sire of obtaining it, in order to live a good, Christian 
life? Have you prayed with humility? 

H. Consider the second means, which is the study of our 
religion. Although faith is a gift of God, and a virtue 
infused by Him into our souls, still we can, after hav- 
ing had recourse to prayer, dispose ourselves to receive 
it, by a sincere study of our religion, entered into prin- 
cipally through a love of truth. So many learned indi- 
viduals, especially the English, who in our own day, 
through a study of the true religion entered into with 
this disposition, abandon then* sects and become 
Catholics, are a proof of what I say. Have you acted 
thus ? Or if your talents and your opportunities are 
not sufficient for the task, have you at least endeavored 
to become instructed in your belief by holding converse 
with some learned priest, or with some well read lay- 
man? 

III. Consider the third means, which is the desire to 
be sincerely converted, and to abandon your evil passions 
and your sins. The cause that keeps so many skeptics 
far away from the faith is passion, and an undue attach- 
ment to riches, honors, and the pleasures of the world. 
They have not got the faith because they do not wish 
to possess it, and they do not desire it because the pos- 



196 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

session of it would be too troublesome, and too great an 
inconvenience to their perverse hearts. They are pre- 
cisely parallel with those of whom our Lord speaks in 
the Gospel : Men loved darkness rather than the light, 
for their works were evil (John iii., 19). Are you one 
of this class ? If you be, how shall you excuse yourself 
before the tribunal of God? Place your hand upon 
your breast * * * and make a resolution. 

Practice.— Examine the doubts you may entertain on 
matters of faith, and lay them before some one com- 
petent to solve them for you. 

Ejaculation. — Domine, ut videam. O my Lord, and 
Immaculate Virgin Mary, grant me the light of faith. 



CHAPTER IV. 
The Labors of the Episcopal Commission. 

"Now this is eternal life : That they may know Thee, the only 
true God." John xvii., 3. 

Having admired the wonderful prudence with which 
the Bishop drew up his instructions for the guidance of 
the Commission in its investigations of the work of God, 
let us, before hearing the sentence, assist, so to speak, 
at the discussion of the case. Let us follow up the 
Commission and study as we go along. 

On the 17th of November the Episcopal Commission 
went to Lourdes, and first of all examined the little girl 
upon the visions. 

" Bernadette," says the verbal process of the Secre- 
tary, " appeared before us with great modesty, and still 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 197 

with a remarkable air of self-reliance. She was calm 
and uniinbarrassed in the midst of this large assembly, 
and in the presence of respectable ecclesiastics whom 
she had never seen, but of whose mission she had been 
apprised." 

"She," writes M. Lasserre, "related the history of 
the apparitions, exposing with the grave certainty of a 
witness, who was sure of the truth of what she stated, 
and with the humble candor of a child, all she had wit- 
nessed in this supernatural drama. She answered every 
question, and left no obscurity in the minds of her in- 
terrogators. 

"The Commissioners, during their sessions, visited 
the rocks of Massabielle. They saw with their own 
eyes the immense jet of the divine fountain : it was 
established as a fact by the unanimous declarations of 
the inhabitants that the fountain had not existed pre- 
vious to the time it gushed forth by a miracle before the 
eyes of the multitude, from beneath the hand of the 
seer while in ecstacy. At Lourdes and all around they 
made a strict inquiry concerning the extraordinary cures 
worked by the waters of the Grotto. In these studies, 
so delicate in their nature, there were two very distinct 
parts : the facts in themselves and their circumstances 
confirmed by human testimony. The examination of the 
natural or supernatural character of the facts was prose- 
cuted, at least in great measure, on medical grounds : 
and by this two-fold method of inquiry was the Tribunal 
guided in its deliberations. 

" While journeying through the dioceses of Tarbes, 
Auch, and Bayonne, the Commissioners cited before 
them all those who had become publicly known as the 
recipients of these singular cures ; and questioned them 



198 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

minutely on all the particulars of their diseases, and 
on their instantaneous or gradual recuperation. They 
caused men well read in the sciences to put them 
technical questions of which, perhaps, the theologians 
would have never thought. And in order to establish 
the truth of their assertions, they called in the parents, 
friends, neighbors, all the witnesses of the various 
phases of the event — those who had seen the invalids, 
and those who had witnessed their cure, &c, &c. 

" On each witness they imposed two conditions : first, 
not to testify to anything except what he had seen and 
known personally ; secondly, they obliged him by virtue 
of his solemn oath, to tell the whole truth, and nothing 
but the truth. 

" Whoever wished to contest this miracle, or that, 
not upon vague general theories, but by precise reason- 
ing and upon a personal knowledge of the facts, was 
publicly invited to present himself without delay before 
the Commission, who would hear with as much willing- 
ness the parties who believed, as those who did not be- 
lieve in the events related. Wherefore, whoever did 
not present himself was condemned by the very fact, as 
he thereby admitted he had nothing particular and for- 
mal to oppose. The very fact of absenting oneself bore 
this evident sense and high import. It is not certain 
that when persons are overheated by the ardor of long 
debate, they would subject themselves to an ignominious 
overthrow by retiring from the contest. To refuse the 
lists, is to acknowledge defeat. 

" Having thus arrived at absolute certainty regarding 
the substance and accidental qualities of the facts, the 
Commissioners submitted their views of the case to the 
eminent and authorized physicians associated with them 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 199 

in examining it. These physicians were Doctor Vergez, 
physician of the waters of Bareges, associate professor 
of the Faculty of Monpellier, and Doctor Dozous, who 
had already studied on his own account many of the 
extraordinary facts. Each physician gave in a separate 
report, his estimate of the nature of the cures — at 
one time throwing miracles aside by attributing the 
cessation of disease to a natural cause ; at another, de- 
claring the fact perfectly inexplicable except by the 
supernatural work of Divine agency, and again coming 
to no conclusion, but leaving their judgment suspended 
between the miraculous and the natural. 

" Upon this two-fold element — the full knowledge of 
the facts on. one side, and the deductions of science on 
the other — the Commissioners prosecuted their deliber- 
ations, and laid their decision before the Bishop, together 
with the documents touching the process. 

"With such precautions it could happen that true 
miracles incompletely established, might fail to receive 
the sanction of the Examining Commission, but it is at 
least absolutely certain that no illusion could resist the 
severity of its scrutiny, and take a stand in its thoughts, 
amongst the wonderful facts of the supernatural and 
divine order. 

" Having been for many months in session the Epis- 
copal Commissioners had been therefore overcrowded 
with testimonies regarding these astounding cures, the 
true character of which it was their duty to determine. 
There was a great number of miracles ; but as they 
were counted by hundreds, it was impossible to study 
them all. They therefore subjected thirty to a severe 
test and examination; and having studied them thorough- 
ly, referred them to the Bishop in three categories. 



200 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

" The first category comprised cures, which though 
surprising, were still susceptible of a natural explanation 
—and they were six. The second was composed of cures, 
which the Commission was inclined to look upon as 
supernatural ; but which in consequence of being liable 
to admit of a natural explanation, although altogether 
unlike one of that class, it did not acknowledge to belong 
to that order— and these were eight. The third em- 
braced those cures which evidently and undeniably bore 
the impress of a supernatural character— and they were 
sixteen." 

My dear reader, what do you say of this arrangement ? 
Does the action of the Commission appear to you to be 
prudent? Have you any objection to make against 
this method of examination, or the members that com- 
posed the committee, or against the Bishop of Tarbes 
who had nominated them ? 

The " Amsterdam Courier" of the 9th of September, 
1858, sought to discredit, or at least diminish the im- 
portance of the Episcopal Commission, because it was 
entirely composed of ecclesiastics and of persons salaried 
by the clergy. 

But tell me if you please, gentlemen proprietors of the 
Amsterdam Courier, should the Commission have been 
composed of architects, civil engineers, army officials, 
Turks or Jews ? Have you forgot that the facts to be 
judged of belong to religion and theology ? And who, 
ordinarily speaking, are versed in religion and theology, 
if not the ecclesiastics who devote so many years to the 
study of both ? If then the ecclesiastics are the true 
experts in religion and theology, ought they not form 
the larger portion of the Commission ? Is not such a 
course pursued in every other case ? If you want to 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 201 

know whether a house is properly built or not, do you 
not call upon a commission of architects and builders ? 
If to judge of the goodness of a watch, is it not to a 
watchmaker you apply ? And so with regard to every 
thing else. 

Ecclesiastics ? Do you mean to say that they are 
more credulous than others ? For goodness sake, assert 
it not with regard to the facts of Lourdes, for this whole 
book in the most solemn manner stamps such an asser- 
tion as a falsehood. Head again the ninth, tenth and 
eleventh chapters of the second part of this history, and 
you will see how slow and rigorous the ecclesiastics are 
in admitting wonderful occurrences into the category 
of the supernatural and divine. 

Persons salaried by the clergy ? Let us distinguish : 
Before the appointing of the Commission the Professors of 
the Seminary were certainly under salary, but not 
Doctor Verges, physician of the waters of Bareges, nor 
Doctor Dozous, superintending physician (medico con- 
dotto) of Lourdes. After the appointing of the Commis- 
sion ? We are not aware that these gentlemen had 
been feed for going through these labors. But let us 
suppose they had, what have you to sneer at ? Would 
you yourselves work for nothing ? Was it not just that 
from the very moment that the emoluments accruing 
from the exercise of their noble profession had ceased, 
the consulting physicians should be compensated for 
their losses ? To speak candidly, I fear you are meas- 
uring others by your own standard, calumniating per- 
sons of unblemished honor, and representing them in 
the light of the soldiers who guarded the sepulchre of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, and for money bound them- 



202 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

selves to testify that the Disciples had stolen Him 
away while they were asleep. 

In fine, dear reader, the good faith of the Amster- 
dam Courier, appears from the bare-faced lies it pub- 
lished in its issue above mentioned; — wherefore, we 
shall not reason more concerning it, but will propose to 
you the following 

MEDITATION ON THE STUDY OF KELIGION. 

I. Consider how the study of religion is obligatory, — 
that is to say, it is not a matter of free choice for any 
one, but is imposed upon all as a truly rigorous duty. 
In fact, our Lord Jesus Christ has said in the Holy 
Gospel: "This is eternal life: That they may know 
Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom 
Thou hast sent" (John xvii. 3). Now in order to know, 
it is necessary to examine, study and occupy the intel- 
lect with religion, which is precisely the comprehension 
of the truths revealed by God, by means of which 
we can know Him. Do you think of this as your duty ? 
Are you not one of those who, engaged altogether by 
the things of earth, never think on God and His Be- 
ligion ? 

II. Consider how useful this study is, because it leads 
you to a knowledge of God, and of His infinite perfec- 
tions, and therefore aids you in becoming perfect your- 
self : moreover, because it puts you on the right path to 
Paradise for which you have been created, and which 
you shall never enter without having known and prac- 
ticed the true religion; and finally, because religion 
being the principal truth which comprehends all the 
rest, is the only one capable of satisfying the cravings 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 203 

you feel of knowing the truth. Are you not then devoid 
of reason in neglecting a study that enriches you with 
so many blessings, — while on the other hand, you, per- 
haps, cultivate studies that either do you no good, or 
work much evil in your regard ? 

III. Consider the manner of prosecuting this study. 
Are you instructed and well read ? Well then, you 
can make this study by the aid of the beautiful books 
we have got treating on Religion, Catholic Theology, 
Christian Doctrine : and all this will be very useful to 
you. If, on the other hand, you are illiterate, or have 
not time and talent to enter upon this study by your- 
self alone, you can do it by going to hear the Lenten 
sermons, and the instructions of the month of Mary, 
but principally by listening attentively to your Pastor's 
exhortations. Nay, more ; this you ought to do, even 
if you be learned, because faith is acquired by hearing, 
as St. Paul says : " Faith then cometh by hearing." — 
Rom. x. 17). Reflect that the Apostle converted the 
world, and taught the true religion, not only by aid of 
books, but also by preaching. * * * What impor- 
tance do you attach to this ? Reflect seriously on this 
meditation, and profit by it. 

Practice. — Hear a sermon with attention, and when 
you return home repeat it over in your own mind, 
praying God to aid you in deriving profit from it. 

Ejaculation. — Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis 
hodie. O Lord, give us this day the daily bread of your 
holy word. 



204 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

CHAPTER V, 

A Sketch of the Miracles of Lourdes. 

" Surely he hath borne our infirmities. — Isaih liii., 4. 

For the sake of the triumph of the work of God at 
Lourdes, and the edification of our readers, we cannot 
omit relating at least some of the cures acknowledged 
by the Examining Commission to be miraculous. We 
will commence with two persons who, although perfect 
strangers to each other, were still bound together by a 
mysterious union. 

In the first half of the month of October, in the year 
1858, there was in the City of Nay (Bassi Pirenei), an 
old widow named Magdalene Rizan, who was on the 
point of death. For a period of about twenty-five 
years, her life had been a series of uninterrupted suf- 
ferings. Having been visited by cholera in the year 
1832, her left side became almost completely paralyzed. 
She limped with the greatest difficulty around the 
house by supporting herself against the walls, or lean- 
ing on some article of furniture. Rarely, two or three 
times a year, in mid- summer, was she able, although 
aided by an attendant — in fact, literally carried in the 
arms, to go hear Mass in the Church of Nay, though it- 
was quite convenient to her house. It was impossible 
for her to kneel or rise without another's help. One 
of her hands was completely decayed. Her whole ner- 
vous system, no less than her limbs, was suffering from 
this terrible stroke. She was harrassed by continual 
hemorrhages. Her stomach could not bear substantial 
food. Soups made of meat and beans, and a little 
coffee, were the only aliment which, prostrate as she 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 205 

was in this deplorable condition, kept alive within her, 
the flickering flame of life — a flame that might be ex- 
tinguished at any moment, and was incapable of warm- 
ing its poor tenement of clay so often agitated by icy 
tremblings. The poor woman was always cold. In the 
very midst of the glowing heat of July and August, she 
always wished to see the fire crackling on the hearth, 
and to have her old arm-chair placed beside it. 

For sixteen or eighteen months her deplorable con- 
dition had grown even worse. The paralysis of her left 
side had, meantime, become complete, and commenced 
to extend its evil influence into her right leg. The de- 
cayed members had become swollen beyond measure, 
as is often the case with dropsical patients. 

Madam Eizan was removed from her chair, and put 
in bed. She was so weak from utter prostration that 
she could not make the slightest movement of herself S 
and it was necessary, from time to time, to turn her 
around in order to give her that relief which a change 
of position affords. She was now only an inert heap 
of flesh. Sensibility, as well as the power to move, had 
left her. * * * * "Where are my limbs?" she 
often asked when she needed to be turned round a little. 
Her limbs were, so to say, contracted and doubled over 
her person, and she continually lay upon her side in the 
form of the letter Z. 

Two physicians had attended her in succession. Dr. 
Talamon had, for a long time, looked upon her as in- 
curable ; and if he continued to visit her frequently, it 
was through pure friendship. He refused to prescribe 
any remedies, stating that medical treatment would 
be injurious to her, and that medicine of any kind Would 
only weaken her, and wear out still more her system, 



206 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

which was already so fearfully disarranged. Doctor 
Subervielle, at the pressing solicitations of Madam 
Bizan, prescribed some remedies, which were soon 
known to be useless ; and he, too, lost all hope. 

If her paralyzed members had become insensible, the 
pains the unhappy creature suffered at one time in her 
stomach, at another in her bowels and in her head, 
were agonizing. The uniform position in which her 
poor body was forced to remain, had ended in produc- 
ing a two-fold pain — one in the cavity of the breast, 
and the other in the groin. The skin on her side was 
peeled off by the long friction of the bed, and her flesh 
could be seen completely bare and blood-stained. Death 
was drawing nigh. 

Madama Bizan had two children. Her daughter, 
whose name was Lubina, lived with her, and tended her 
with the greatest diligence and affection. Her son, 
Bomanus, was employed in a commercial house in Bor- 
deaux. When the last hope of her recovery had fled, 
and Doctor Subervielle had declared that she had 
scarcely a few days to live, he ordered Bomanus to be 
sent for in all haste. On his arrival, Bomanus em- 
braced his mother, and received her blessing and last 
adieu. He was soon obliged to return in pursuance of 
an order that called him back. Torn thus from the side 
of the bed of death by the cruel tyranny of business, he 
left his mother with the harrowing certainty of never 
seeing her again. 

The dying woman had received Extreme Unction, 
and her agony was prolonged amid the most intolerable 
sufferings. * * * "My God!" she often exclaimed, "put 
an end to these terrible pains. Grant me, O Lord, the 
boon of recovery, or death !" She got the Sisters of the 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 207 

Cross at Jgon, of whose convent her sister-in-law was 
Superioress, to make a no vena for her to the Most Holy 
Virgin to obtain through her power either her recovery 
or death. The sick woman manifested a desire to 
drink of the water of the Grotto. Madam Nessans, a 
neighbor, who was going to Lourdes, promised to bring 
her some on her return. 

From that time she was watched day and night. On 
Saturday, the 16th of October, a violent crisis announced 
the definite approach of the last moment. Her ex- 
pectorations of blood were almost continuous. A livid 
tint had diffused itself all over her withered counte- 
nance. Her eyes had become glassy ; and she spoke 
not except to lament her acute sufferings. * * * " Lord," 
she often reated, " O Lord, how I do suffer ! Can I not 
die?" "Her wish shall soon be gratified, said Doctor 
Subervielle, taking his leave. " She will die this night, 
or at furthest, at break of day. She has got no more 
oil in her lamp." 

The door was opened from time to time. Friends, 
neighbors, priests, the Abbe Dupont, Abbe Sanarans, 
Vicar of Nay. entered silently, and inquired in a low 
tone if the sick woman were still alive. In the evening 
when leaving her, Abbe Andre Dupont, her spiritual 
adviser and friend, could not refrain from tears. * * * 
" Before day dawns," he said, " she will be dead, and I 
shall not see her again except in paradise." 

Night came on ; and the house was gradually becom- 
ing lonely. On her knees before a statue of the Virgin, 
Lubina prayed without any earthly hope. The silence was 
profound, and was interrupted only by the labored breath- 
ing of the dying woman. It was now near midnight. 

" My daughter," said the woman in agony. 



208 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Lubina rose from her knees, and approached the 
bed. * * * " What do you wish, my mother,' ' said she 
taking her by the hand. 

" My dear daughter," she said in a voice somewhat 
unusual — and she seemed to be just wakening from a 
profound sleep, " go to our friend, Madam Nessans, who 
should have returned this evening from Lourdes, and 
ask her for a glass of the water of the Grotto. It is 
that water that must cure me. The Holy Virgin wishes 
it." 

"But good mother," replied Lubina, "it is now too 
late. I cannot leave you alone, and every one is in bed 
in Madam Nessan's house. But I will go for it very 
early in the morning." 

" Well then, let us wait." And the sick woman fell 
into her wonted silence. 

The night passed away, and it was long. The glad 
sounds of the bells finally announced the dawn of the 
Lord's day. Soon the Angelus bell invited the people 
to join in this matin devotion ; and the orisons of the 
faithful were wafted on the breeze unto Mary's throne, 
as they celebrated the eternal memory of her omnipo- 
tent maternity. Lubina hastened to Madam Nessan's, 
and soon returned with a bottle of the water of the 
Grotto. * * * * " Take this, my mother, and drink ! 
May the Most Holy Virgin come to your relief !" 

Madam Bizan put the glass to her lips and drank a 
few mouthfuls. * * * " O m y daughter ! my daughter !" 
she exclaimed, " I am drinking in life. In this water 
there is life. Bub my face with it ! Bub my arms with it ! 
Bub my whole body with it !" 

Lubina trembling, and transported out of herself, 
steeped a linen cloth in the miraculous water, and 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 209 

bathed her mother's face. * * * " I feel myself cured !" 
exclaimed the mother in a voice that had become clear 
and strong. " I feel myself cured !" 

Lubina still continued to rub gently the paralyzed 
and swollen members of the patient with the damp 
cloth. Transported with felicity accompanied with I 
know not what sort of a terrified scream, she saw the 
enormous swelling diminish and disappear instantly be- 
neath the rapid motion of her hand, and the skin, vio- 
lently distended and clear, assume its natural appear- 
ance. Suddenly, completely, without the transiency of 
ordinary recovery, health and life returned beneath the 
touch of her fingers. 

" It seems to me," said the mother, " that something 
like darts of fire, is shooting out from all parts of my 
body." * * * It was, no doubt, the hidden prin- 
ciple of the disease that was escaping from that body, 
until now so racked with pain, and which it was quitting 
forever in submission to the action of a superhuman 
will. All this was accomplished in an instant. In one 
or two minutes the agonizing body of Madam Eizan 
having been rubbed by her daughter, had recovered the 
fullness of its powers. " I am cured ! completely cured !'' 
exclaimed the happy woman. " How good the Most 
Holy Virgin is ! How powerful !" 

After this bound of her soul heavenward, her appe- 
tite made its calls violently felt. 

"Lubina, my dear Lubina, I am hungry ; I wish to 
eat." 

" Do you wish some coffee ? Do you wish some 
wine, or milk ?" stammered the young woman, dismayed 
by the somewhat thunder-like instantaneousness of this 
miracle. 



210 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

"I wish some meat and bread, daughter; I haven't 
eaten any for four-and-twenty years." 

There was in the house a piece of cold meat, and a 
little wine ; and Madam Rizan partook of both. 

" And now," said she, " I wish to get up." 

*' It is not possible, mother," said Lubina, hesitating 
in spite of herself to believe her own eyes, and imagin- 
ing, perchance, that cures sprung directly from God, 
were subject, like ordinary cases, to the slowness and 
the precautions of convalescence. She trembled to see 
this miracle, so unhoped for, vanish of a sudden. The 
mother insisted, and asked for her clothes. Many 
months before had they been folded up, and placed in 
a press in a room near by. It was believed, alas ! that 
they would not be needed any more. Lubina left her 
mother's room to , look for them. She returned almost 
instantly ; but having reached the threshold of the door, 
she screamed, and let the clothes fall from her hands, 
so great was her consternation. During this short 
absence, her mother had jumped out of bed, and had 
gone to kneel before the little chimney-piece, on which 
was placed a statue of the Virgin Mary. There she 
was with her hands joined, offering up her orisons of 
thanks to her powerful liberator. 

Lubina, terrified as if in the presence of a resurrection 
from the grave, was not able to assist her mother to 
dress. Madam Eizan picked up her clothes herself, put 
them on in an instant, and prostrated herself again be- 
fore the sacred image. It was now about seven o'clock 
in the morning. The people were coming from first 
Mass. The screams of Lubina were heard by them as 
they passed by. * * * " Poor child!" they said, 
" her mother has by this time breathed her last, for it 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 211 

was impossible she could have passed the night." 
Friends and neighbors entered the house to comfort 
Lubina in her unutterable grief: and amongst them 
were two Sisters of the Holy Cross. 

" Well, my poor child, so your good mother is dead ! 
but you will again see her in heaven." And they ap- 
proached the girl as she stood at the half-open door 
completely confounded and bewildered. She was 
scarcely able to make the Sisters this reply: " My 
mother is resuscitated" — words uttered in a voice 
choked by emotion so strong that she swooned away. 

" She is raving," thought the Sisters, entering the 
room, and followed by some persons who had ascended 
the stairs after them. 

Lubina had told the truth. Madam Eizan had got out 
of bed, put on her clothes, and was praying prostrate 
before the image of Mary. She stood up, and said, 
" I am cured ! Let us thank the Most Holy Virgin. 
Let us all fall on our knees !" 

The report of this extraordinary occurrence spread 
through the city of Nay with the rapidity of lightning. 
During that day and the next, the house was full of 
people. "With deep emotion and recollection did the 
crowds throng that room upon which a ray of the 
omnipotent bounty of God had shed its influence. Every 
one wanted to see Madam Eizan, to touch her body 
raised to life, to be convinced by his own eyes, and to 
impress upon his memory all the particulars of this 
supernatural drama. 

Doctor Subervielle unhesitatingly acknowledged the 
supernatural and divine character of this extraordinary 
cure. Meanwhile at Bordeaux, Eomanus Eizan was 
awaiting in the anguish of despair, the fatal letter that was 



212 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

to announce to him his mother's death. It was a terri- 
ble stroke for him one morning to receive a letter, the 
superscription of which was in the handwriting of the 
Abbe Dupont. * * * "I have lost my poor mother," 
he said, to a friend who had come to visit him. And 
he burst into tears, without having courage to open the 
envelope. 

" Have courage in your misfortunes, have faith," said 
his friend. 

At last he broke the seal. The first words that met 
his eyes were these: "Deogratias! AUelujah! Eejoice, 
my dear friend, your mother is cured — completely 
cured. It is the Most Holy Virgin who has miracu- 
lously restored her to health." The Abbe Dupont re- 
lated to him how in a manner altogether divine, Madam 
Eizan had found at the termination of her agony, life 
instead of death. 

O what joy for the son ! What joy for his friend ! 
This gentleman was employed in a printing house in 
Bordeaux, in which the Messager Catholique was pub- 
lished. — "Give me this letter," said he to Eomanus 
Eizan ; " it is necessary that the works of God be known, 
and that the Madonna of Lourdes be glorified." In part 
freely, and in part by force he got the letter. In a few 
days it was duly published in the M*ssage.r Catholique. 
The fortunate son set out as soon as possible for Nay. 
A woman was awaiting his arrival by the diligence. 
Brisk and lively she ran towards him as he descended 
from the vehicle, and flung herself into his arms weep- 
ing tears of tenderness and joy. It was his mother ! 

Ten years afterwards, M. Henry Lasserre paid a visit 
to Madam Eizan, and was struck with astonishment at 
her perfect health and green old age. She had reached 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 213 

the age of seventy-one years, without betraying any of 
the infirmities which so many winters carry in their 
train. There was no trace of all the pains and suffer- 
ings she had endured. All who had previously known 
her, were astonished at so prodigious a change. 

But let us relate the other cure which, we have said, 
is knit to this by a mysterious union. We will translate 
literally from M. Lasserre's beautiful history. 

" Long before the events of Lourdes, and before Ber- 
nadette was born — it was in the month of April, 1843, 
a respectable family of Tartas (Landes) was about 
to be visited by a very dire calamity. Madame Adele 
de Chauton had been about twelve months married to 
M. Moreau di Sazenay, and the term of her confinement 
was drawing nigh. A first maternity is always very 
critical. The doctors, called upon in all haste, declared 
on the strength of the premonitory symptoms of the 
case, that her parturition would be very laborious, and 
did not conceal the possibility of a dangerous result. 

"No one is ignorant of the harrowing anxieties of 
cases like this. * * * What shall be the issue of 
the crisis? Shall joy be the result, or heartrending 
bereavement ? What is to be got ready ?— a cradle, or 
a bier ? And,— oh ! terrible contrast ! shall it be ne- 
cessary to procure both at the same moment ? Must 
not, perchance, two coffins be provided — one for the 
mother, the other for the babe ? Human silence is now 
silent, and dares not pronounce a judgment. These 
moments of anguish are terrible indeed, — but still more 
so must they be for those who seek not strength and 
consolation in God. 

" But M. Moreau was a Christian. He knew that the 
thread of our existence is in the hands of the Supreme 



214 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Master, unto whom one can always appeal from the de- 
cision of physicians. When man has pronounced his 
condemnation the King of Heaven, like earthly monarchs, 
has still reserved to Himself the right of grace. 

" ' The Most Holy Virgin/ thought the unhappy hus- 
band, ' will perhaps deign to hear my prayer.' — Accord- 
ingly he recurred with confidence to the Mother of the 
Saviour. And lo ! the danger that had at first appeared 
so threatening, little by little began to pass away, even 
as a dark cloud is rent and dissipated by the winds in 
the heights of space. The horrizon becomes clear and 
bright, and is soon ablaze with effulgence : a child is 
given to the world. 

" Certainly this happy release had nothing extraordi- 
nary in it. The trouble, however alarming it might have 
appeared to M. Moreau, had never been absolutely dis- 
paired of by the physicians as being beyond the sphere 
of medical skill. Therefore, the happy issue of this cri- 
tical case could possibly be attributed to a natural cause. 
But the heart of the husband and father, far from en- 
tertaining such an idea, was penetrated with grateful 
acknowledgments of the benign power of the Most 
Holy Virgin. He was not one of those ingrates who, in 
order to be released from their debt of gratitude, seek 
only the chance of being able to doubt of the benefits 
they have received. 

" ' What name will you give your daughter ?' M. Mo- 
reau was asked. 

" ' She shall be called Mary,' he replied. ' 

" ' Mary ? That is the most common name we have got. 
All the plain women and the servant-maids are called 
Mary. And then Mary Moreau does not sound nice ; 
there is no euphony in it. These two M's and two E's 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 215 

are insupportable.' A thousand reasons of like import 
were adduced. M. Moreau was of a tractable disposi- 
tion, easily pleased, and habitually disposed to yield to 
the remarks made to him by others ; but in this case 
he took a firm stand against entreaties and advice : to 
displease in the present circumstances gave him no 
trouble, and his tenacity of purpose was extraordinary. 
He remembered that in the recent difficulties he had 
invoked this sacred name, which is the name of the 
Queen of Heaven. * * * ' She shall be called 
Mary,' he said. 'I wish her to have the Most Holy 
Virgin for patron. I tell you in truth this name will 
bring her good luck.' 

" All around him were astonished at his obstinacy ; 
but it yielded not in the least, no more than did the 
firm purpose of Zacchary who, as the Gospel tells us, 
wished his son to be called John. * * * The father 
wished, beside, that for three years his daughter should 
be clothed in white, which is the Virgin's color ; and 
it was done. 

" More than sixteen years had passed away since 
this event took place. A second child was born 
and was called Martha. Mademoiselle Marie Mo- 
reau was pursuing her studies under the Sisters of 
the Sacred Heart at Bordeaux. About the commence- 
ment of the month of January, 1858, she was attacked 
with sore eyes, and was soon forced to give up work 
of every description. 

" She thought the affliction might be only the effect 
of cold, and that it would pass away as it had come ; 
but her hopes were delusive, and soon her condition 
assumed a character perfectly alarming. The ordinary 
physician of the house judged it necessary to constilt 



216 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

M. Bermont, a distinguished occulist of Bordeaux. Far 
from being the effect of a cold, the disease was pro- 
nounced to be amaurosis. 'The disease is most ser- 
ious,' said M. Bermont. ' One of the eyes is completely 
lost, and the other is very badly afflicted.' 

" The parents were immediately notified. The mother 
hastened to Bordeaux to take home her daughter, in 
order to have her follow out with the greatest care the 
treatment prescribed by the occulist — if not to cure the 
eye that was lost, at least to save the one that yet re- 
mained, and which was so much impaired as not to be 
able to discern objects except through a most confused 
misty coating. 

" Medicine, sea-bathing, all that science recommends, 
had proved useless. Spring and Autumn had passed 
away in those vain efforts. The sad affliction had resisted 
every remedy, and was gradually becoming more ser- 
ious. Complete blindness w r as imminent. The parents 
determined to bring their daughter to Paris in order 
to consult the medical celebrities. While preparing in 
all haste for the journey, overshadowed at the same 
time by the doubt that it was already too late to check 
the affliction with which their child was threatened, 
the letter-carrier brought them the weekly number of 
the Messager Catholique, a little journal published at 
Bordeaux, and to which they were subscribers. It was 
now the beginning of November, and the number of 
the Messager Catholique that now reached them was pre- 
cisely the one that contained the Abbe Dupont's letter 
relating the miraculous cure of the widow Bizan of 
Nay, effected by the use of the water of the Grotto. 

M. Moreau mechanically opened the paper, and his 
eye fell upon this divine narration. While reading it he 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 217 

grew pale. Hope was awakened in the soul of the dis- 
consolate father, and a ray of light had shot its benign 
influence into his heart. 

" ' Behold,' said he, ' the door at which we have to 
knock. It is evident,' he, added with wonderful sim- 
plicity — and the precise words it is our purpose to 
record — ' it is evident that the Most Holy Virgin has 
appeared at Lourdes, and that she has an interest in 
working miraculous cures there in order to establish 
and prove the reality of the apparitions. And this is 
true especially in the commencement, inasmuch as this 
event is not yet universally accredited. Let us hurry 
up then ! There, like every other place, they that ar- 
rive first, are first served. My wife ! my daughter ! it 
is to the Madonna of Lourdes we must go for help.' 

" The sixteen years that had elapsed since the birth 
of his child, had not, it is evident, cooled in the least 
the faith of M. Moreau. A novena was immediately 
resolved upon, in which holy exercise were associated 
the companions and friends of the suffering girl. By a 
providential circumstance one of the priests of the city 
had at the time a bottle of the water of the Grotto in 
his house ; and so the novena was commenced almost 
immediately. In case their daughter would be cured, 
the parents bound themselves by vow to make a pil- 
grimage to Lourdes, and to clothe her in white and 
blue — the colors of the Most Holy Virgin, colors which 
she had worn until she had completed her third year. 
The novena was commenced on Monday evening, the 
8th of November. Is it necessary to tell it ? The sick 
girl believed little ; the mother dared not hope. The 
father alone possessed that strong faith which the 
beneficent powers of heaven never resist. 



218 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

" All prayed in common in M. Moreau's room, before 
an image of the Most Holy Virgin. The mother, the 
sick girl, and her little sister rose up in succession to 
retire to rest ; but the father remained on his knees. 
He alone believed, and raised his voice with such fervor 
as to arrest his family just on the point of retiring. 
They subsequently related this to M. Lasserre ; and 
they can never think of the solemn moment without 
feelings of emotion. 

"'Holy Virgin,' said the father, 'Most Holy Virgin 
Mary, you ought to cure my daughter! Yes, in- 
deed, you ought. It is for you an obligation, and you 
cannot refuse. Remember then, O Mary, that it is 
in spite of all, and against the wishes of all, that 
I have selected you to be her patron. You should 
remember what trials I have had to sustain to 
succeed in giving her your sacred name. Ah ! Holy 
Virgin, can you forget all this ? Can you forget that at 
the time I defended your name, your power, your glory, 
against the instances and vain reasoning of those around 
me ? Can you forget that I have publicly placed this 
child under your protection, telling every one that this 
name of yours, Most Holy Virgin Mary, would bring 
her good luck ? She was my child, I have made her 
yours. Can you forget her ? Are you not under an 
obligation by the very fact, O Most Holy Virgin ? Are 
you not obliged in honor (now that I am miserable, 
now that we supplicate you for our child — for your 
child) to come to our assistance, and heal the afflictions 
of the little sufferer? Will you allow her to become 
blind after the faith I have put in you? No ! no ! it is 
impossible ; and you will cure her !' 

" Such were the sentiments manifested in a loud voice 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. i4l9 

by the unhappy father, appealing to the heart of the 
Holy Virgin; making her in a certain manner his 
debtor, and calling upon her to pay the dues of grate- 
ful recognition. 

" It was now ten o'clock. The young girl, just as she 
was going to bed, steeped in the water of Lourdes a 
strip of linen, with which she bandaged her eyes. Her 
soul was agitated. Without having her father's strong 
faith, she said of her own accord that finally the Holy 
Virgin would be able to cure her, and that, perhaps, as 
soon as the novena was finished she would have recov- 
ered her sight. Then there came a doubt, and it 
seemed to her that a miracle would not be wrought in 
her favor. With all these thoughts revolving through 
her mind, it was with great difficulty she fixed herself 
to sleep ; and the night was far spent ere the soothing 
balm of slumber diffused itself around her. 

"In the morning, as soon as she awoke, her first re- 
solve — a resolve of vague hope, and restless curiosity, 
w T as to remove the bandage from her eyes. She screamed 
aloud. All around her in the room was shed the light 
of the sun's morning beams. She saw clearly and dis- 
tinctly. The sore eye had regained its health; the eye 
that had been dead, was resuscitated. 

" ' Martha ! Martha !' she exclaimed, calling her little 
sister, ' I see ! I see ! I am cured !' 

"Little. Martha, who slept in the same room, jumped 
out of bed and bounded towards her. She saw that 
her sister's eyes were now completely dismantled of 
their sanguineous coating, and that they were black 
and brilliant, and full of life. and vigor. Her little heart 
turned instinctively to her father and mother, who 
were not yet participants in the joy. 



220 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION* 

"'Papa! Mamma!' shouted Martha. But Mary 
beckoned her to keep still, and said : ' Wait, wait. I 
wish to try first if I can read. Give me a book.' Mar- 
tha took one from off the table, and presented it to her 
sister, who opened it, and read with as much freedom 
and ease as any one else. The cure was complete, 
radical, absolute, for the Blessed Virgin had not half 
done her work. The father and mother had by this 
time arrived. 

" Papa ! Mamma ! I see, I read, I am cured ! 

"How can w T e depict this scene which baffles de- 
scription? Every one can comprehend and see the 
feelings of joy unutterable that thrilled the bosoms of 
this little family, by entering into his own heart. 

" The father, mother, and little Martha fell upon their 
knees. Mary, who was still in bed, clasped her hands : 
and from these four hearts overwhelmed by emotion 
and gratitude, burst forth the name of the Mother of 
God. * * * <0 Holy Virgin! O Lady of Lourdes!' 
they ejaculated in accents of praise and thanksgiving. 

" We need not add that soon after Mary went with 
her parents to thank Our Lady of Lourdes at the 
Grotto of the apparitions. She laid her dress upon the 
altar, and put on the colors of the Queen of Virgins, 
happy and proud to wear them. 

" M. Moreau, whose faith was at first so strong, was 
lost in astonishment. 'I believed,' said he, 'that 
graces like these were accorded to the Saints alone. 
How does it come that such favors descend upon miser- 
able sinners like ourselves ?' 

" These facts have been testified to by all the inhabi- 
tants of Tartas, who took a sympathetic interest in the 
afflictions of this family, which was one of the most 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 221 

esteemed in the town. * * * Doctor Bermont 
frankly admitted the cure to be supernatural. His 
declaration is preserved in the Episcopal Archives of 
Tarbes, with a great number of letters and testimonies 
of the inhabitants of Tartas, and amongst them one 
from the Syndic, M. Desbord, figures conspicuously. 

" Miss Moreau continued to wear the colors of the 
Virgin up to the day of her marriage, which took place 
soon after she had finished her studies in the Academy 
of the Sacred Heart. On that day she laid aside the 
garments of maidenhood, and assumed the raiment 
of the spouse. She wished to make a present of her 
white and blue dress to another young girl, who also 
was much loved by the Holy Virgin — and this was Ber- 
nadette. Having had the same mother, were they not 
sisters ? 

" This is the only present Bernadette has ever ac- 
cepted. She carried it for many years, — in fact, until 
it was completely worn out, its colors always reminding 
her of the potent Benefactress who had appeared to 
her in the Grotto. 

"Eleven years have passed away since these events took 
place," wrote M. Lasserre, in the year 1869. " The be- 
neficence of the Holy Virgin has not yielded to the 
touch of time : Miss Moreaus sight is still perfect ; she 
has never had a relapse, never the slightest ophthalmic 
affection. The lady is now called Madam d'Izarn de 
Villefort, and is the mother of three fine children, who 
have got the finest eyes in the world. Although they 
are boys, there is not one of them who has not got, in 
addition to his respective middle baptismal name, the 
prefix Mary." 

Pardon us, dear reader, but we cannot pass over a 



222 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

third fact, which deeply moved us while reading of it. 
We will relate it now with the admirable simplicity with 
which the golden pen of M. Lasserre described it in the 
year 1868. 

" It is now about two years since I had the honor of 
visiting in his own house, No. 6 Eue de Chai des Farines, 
Bordeaux, M. Bogger Laccassagne, an employee of the 
Custom-house ; and at first sight I was much surprised 
by the severe contour of his cold physiognomy. He 
asked me, with the coarse urbanity of a disciplinarian, 
what was the motive of my visit. 

" ' Sir,' said I, ' I have heard an account of your jour- 
ney to the Grotto of Lourdes, and, in consequence of 
the studies I am pursuing, have come to hear its his- 
tory from your own lips.' 

" At the words, Grotto of Lourdes, this severe face as- 
sumed a mild serenity, and the emotion produced by 
a sublime recollection sweetened in an instant the stern- 
ness of its expression. 

" ' Take a seat,' said this noble man, ' and excuse me 
for receiving you in this room now so much in disorder. 
My family are going to-day to Arcachon, and you have 
just found us in the embarrassment of moving." 

" ' It matters not ; relate to me the events of which I 
have heard so much, and which I only know in a con- 
fused way.' 

" ' As for me,' he said with tears in his eyes — ' as for 
me I shall never forget any of the particulars as long as I 
live.' . . . After a moment's silence he resumed : ' Sir, I 
have two sons. The younger, of whom alone I have to 
speak, is called Julius ; he will be here presently. You 
will see how sweet, how kind, how good he is.' 

" M. Laccassagne did not tell me how much he loved 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 223 

this, his younger boy. But his accents, which became 
so sweet, so loving while speaking of him, revealed to 
me the full depths of his paternal tenderness. I per- 
ceived that the noble soul that was now about to unfold 
itself to me, was completely centered in his son. 

" ' The boy's health/ he continued, ' had been excel- 
lent up to the age of ten years, At that time he was 
attacked unexpectedly, and without any apparent physi- 
cal cause, by a malady, the grave nature of which, at 
first, I did not scan. On the 25th of January, 1865, just 
as we were seated at the supper-table, Julius complained 
of a stoppage in the throat, which prevented him from 
swallowing any substantial food. He was obliged to 
limit himself to a little soup. His condition continued 
unchanged. I called in M. Nogues, one of the most dis- 
tinguished physicians in Toulouse. I was living in that 
city at the time.' 

" ' He is suffering from a nervous attack, said the 
doctor to me ; and he gave me hopes of an immediate 
cure.' 

" ' A few days after, in fact, the boy was able to eat, 
and I believed he was completely cured ; but soon the 
disease returned, and continued with more or less in- 
termittant regularity up to the end of April. From that 
date his condition became fixed. The poor child was 
now obliged to be nourished exclusively on liquids — 
milks, soups, &c. The soup should be very clear too, 
because the opening that yet remained in his throat 
was so very narrow that it was impossible for him to 
swallow the smallest particle of tapioca. The poor little 
boy, being reduced to this meagre nourishment, began to 
pine away gradually. The doctors (for indeed we had 
two, having from the very commencement, engaged that 



224 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

notoriety in medicine, Doctor Roques, in addition to 
Doctor Nogues), being astonished by the singularity and 
persistency of the affection, sought in vain to discover 
its precise nature, in order to determine on the remedy. 

" * One day, it was the 10th of May (I have suffered 
so much, sir, by this unfortunate affliction, and given it 
so much thought, that the several dates are indelibly 
fixed in my memory) one day I perceived Julius in the 
garden running with unusual swiftness, and as if by 
jumps. I feared the slightest agitation for him. * * * 
'Julius stand still!' I shouted, going toward him in or- 
der to take him by the hand ; but he instantly escaped 
me. 

" ' Papa,' he said to me, ' I can't stand ; I must run, 
my efforts to the contrary are useless. The impelling 
power within me is stronger than I. ? 

" ' I took him on my knees : his limbs trembled con- 
vulsively. A little after his head was seized by con- 
vulsions and contorsions. The true character of the 
disease finally revealed itself. My unfortunate boy had 
become the prey of Corea. Doubtless, you know, sir, 
what a horrible crisis this extraordinary disease ordi- 
narily produces — 

" ' No,' said I, by way of interrogatory, ' I do not 
know what the Corea is.' 

" ' It is that disease which is vulgarly called St. Vitus' 
dance.' 

" Very well. Now I understand. Proceed." 

" ' The principal seat of the disease was in the throat. 
The changes for the worse that manifested tluemselves 
every hour in the day without interruption, established 
from this moment the uncertain power of medicine. 
Even supposing medical skill had ascertained the true 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 225 

nature of the disease, it was still unable to conquer it. 
After fifteen months' care, the most it could accomplish 
was to check the external accidents, such as the agita- 
tion of the limbs and head ; or to speak more accurately, 
these accidents disappeared of themselves in obedience 
to the innate power of nature. As regards the extreme 
narrowing of the throat, it had now assumed a chronic 
state that resisted every remedy. Country ah, the 
baths of Luchon, etc., were in vain recurred to for near- 
ly two years. These various remedies produced no 
other result than to irritate the patient. 

" ' Our last remedy was sea-bathing. My wife con- 
ducted the patient to Saint Jean-de-Luz. I need not 
tell you that in the condition in which he was, all these 
physical remedies were wasted. Before everything, in 
fact, we wished the boy to live. From the very com- 
mencement of the disease we had suspended his studies, 
and forbidden labor of any kind : we cared him like a 
tender exotic. He is naturally of an active turn of 
mind, and so the restraint we put on his mental powers 
annoyed him considerably. The poor child began, 
moreover, to be ashamed of his affliction. He saw all 
the other boys in the enjoyment of health, while he 
had to bear the wretchedness of rapid decline : so he 
retired altogether from the society of his compan- 
ions.' 

"The father was so deeply moved by these sad 
memories that he had to stop short in his narrative 
for a moment, in order to rule his emotion. . . . 
He then resumed : 

'• ' He isolated himself. He was sad. Whenever he 
found a book he read it by way of antidote to his mis- 
eries. While at St. Jean-de-Luz, he found one day a 



226 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

little notice of the apparitions of Lourdes lying on a 
table in the house of a lady who was residing in the 
vicinity. He read it, and, as it seems, was deeply 
moved. In the evening he told his mother that the 
Most Holy Virgin could cure him ; but the mother paid 
no attention to his words, regarding them as puerile 
utterances. 

" ' On our return from Bordeaux for a little previous 
to this date I had been transferred thence to this place) 
the boy was absolutely in the same state. It was the 
month of August last. 

" ' So many fruitless efforts for his recovery had over- 
whelmed us with grief ; and our extreme anguish made 
us look older by many years : perhaps, you would scarce- 
ly believe, sir, that I am only forty-six years old.' 

" I looked at the poor father — my heart was moved. 
I took hold of his hand and pressed it with cordial sym- 
pathy and profound compassion. 

" ' Meanwhile, the boy's strength w T as visibly wearing 
out — he began to look like a waxen statue. Although 
I had resolved to give up all medicine, I still called in 
one of the most eminent physicians of Bordeaux, Doc- 
tor Gintrac, Sr., who, upon examination, discovered in 
addition to the narrowed condition of the alimentary 
canal, some rough wrinklings of the very worst import. 
He shook his head, and gave me small hopes ; but see- 
ing my dreadful anxiety, added — ' I do not say that I 
cannot cure him ; but he is very ill.' He prescribed 
some remedies, which produced no other effect than to 
cause the patient trouble ; and I was advised to suspend 
the treatment. 

"'In one of my visits to Doctor Gintrac I made 
known to him an idea that had engaged my mind for 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 227 

some time. * * * < It seems to me, Doctor/ said I, 
' that if Julius wished, he could swallow some nourish- 
ment. Perhaps this difficulty springs from fear— that 
because he did not eat yesterday, he cannot eat to-day. 
In such case, the disease would be imaginary, and 
could be cured by moral remedies only.' The Doctor 
cleared away this illusion. 

" ' You deceive yourself,' he said ; ' the disease is in 
the organs, which are, indeed, very much impaired. I 
have not confined myself to an occular examination, 
because my eyes could possibly lead me into error, but 
have had recourse to the aid of an instrument, by means 
of which I have been enabled to touch minutely with 
my finger the disordered members. The esofagus is 
covered with wrinkled coatings, and the canal has be- 
come so narrowed that it is materially impossible for the 
boy to use any nourishment except liquids, which 
naturally reduce their proportions to the measure of the 
canal, and can, therefore, flow through the needle-eye 
opening that yet remains. A single millimetre more of 
swelling of the tissues, and the patient will be choked. 
The beginning of the disease, the changes from well to 
ill that have characterised its progress, the momentary 
interruptions in its course, furthermore corroborate my 
material observations. Tour son, had he once been 
cured, would have remained so, if the disease were in 
the imagination. But it is too true that it exists in the 
organs.' 

" c These observations which had been already made 
to me in Toulouse, were too conclusive not to convince 
me. I returned home with the shadows of death brood- 
ing in my soul. What was to be done? * * * Evi- 
dently our poor boy was irreparably lost. Sir, such 



228 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

cruel convictions enter with difficulty into a father's 
heart. I endeavored to flatter myself that I was de- 
ceived. My wife and I consulted together. * * * 
I thought of having recourse to hydrotherapy. It was 
in such a desperate and hopeless crisis that Julius said to 
his mother in a tone of confidence — nay, of absolute 
certainty that was surprising : ' Don't you see, mam- 
ma? Neither Doctor Gintrac, nor any other physician, 
can cure my disease. It is the Most Holy Virgin that 
will cure me. Send me to the Grotto of Lourdes, and 
you will see that I shall be cured. I am certain of it.' 

" ' My wife made known to me this proposition. * * 
' Do not hesitate about it !' I exclaimed. ' We must 
take him to Lourdes, and that immediately.' 

" ' It is not, sir, that I had faith. I did not believe in 
miracles, and did not consider these extraordinary inter- 
ventions of the Deity possible. But I was a father, and, 
therefore, no suggestion made to me was undervalued. 
I moreover hoped that, beside these supernatural inter- 
ventions, which I did not admit, a salutary moral effect 
would be thereby produced in the boy. As regards a 
complete cure,, you understand, sir, that I never as much 
as indulged a thought. We were in the commencement of 
February. The weather was bad, and I feared to expose 
Julius to the slightest inclemency of the season. I wished 
to wait for a fine day. The idea that came to his mind 
eight months previously by reading at St. Jean-de-Luz 
the little notice in the paper, and which he made known 
to us, Julius had never abandoned. This faith, so full 
and so complete, was the more extraordinary in as much 
as we had not brought up our boy in the habit of over- 
wrought devotion. My wife complied with her religious 
duties— but that was all ; and as regarded myself, as I 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 229 

have said, my philosophic notions led me a different 
road. 

" ' The 12th of February was a lovely day. We took 
the train for Tarbes. During the journey the boy was 
cheerful, and full of perfect faith in the certainty of 
being cured — a faith so strong that it confounded me. 
* * * ' I shall be cured,' he said to me every mo- 
ment. ' You will see. A great many others have been 
cured : why shall not I be cured, too ? The Most Holy 
Virgin is ready to cure me.' 

" ' And I shared this great confidence without divid- 
ing it — a confidence which I would qualify as being of 
such a nature as to astound me, did I not fear to be 
wanting in respect to God who had infused it into him. 
At Tarbes, in the Hotel Dupont, where we put up, the 
poor boy's face was noticed for its pale and emaciated 
expression, as well as for its suavity and gracefulness. 
Every one loved to gaze upon the boy. At the hotel I 
related the object of our journey. The vows these good 
people poured forth for us, I regarded as a happy 
omen. And when we were departing, I saw c well that 
our return would be looked for with" impatience. To 
be prepared for the issue, notwithstanding all my doubts, 
I took with me a small box of biscuit. 

" ' When we arrived at the crypt, which is over the 
Grotto. Mass was being celebrated. Julius prayed with 
a faith that was visible in every action, and with an 
ardor truly heavenly. The poor little angel was trans- 
figured. The priest was surprised at his fervor, and 
having finished Mass and disrobed in the sacristy, hur- 
ried out to join us. A good thought had come into his 
mind while noticing the little boy. He informed me of 
it, and then turning to Julius, who was yet on his knees, 



230 s THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

said : ' My child, do you wish that I consecrate you to 
the Most Holy Virgin ?' 

" ' Yes ! yes !' replied Julius. 

" ' The priest commenced the simple ceremony at 
once, and recited over the boy the formula prescribed 
by the Church. * * * ' And now, father, I am going 
to be cured,' he exclaimed with a confidence in his 
words that surprised me. 

" ' We descended into the Grotto. Julius knelt be- 
fore the statue of the Virgin and prayed. I gazed on 
him, and I see yet the lovely expression of his face, and 
the fervor of his attitude as he joined his hands in sup- 
plication. He arose : we went to the fountain. 

" ' This was a terrible moment. 

" ' He washed his neck and breast. Then he took 
the glass and drank a few draps of the miraculous water. 
He was calm and happy ; cheerful and radiant with con- 
fidence. As for me I trembled and became so over- 
powered as almost to faint away in presence of this last 
test ; but I endeavored, though with difficulty, to check 
my emotion. I did not wish the boy to become cog- 
nizant of the doubtings of my heart. I handed him a 
biscuit, and asked him to try if he could eat it. 

" * He took it : I turned my head aside, for I did not 
have strength in me to look upon this test. It was, in 
fact, the life or death of my child that had now to be 
decided. In such circumstances, terrible for the heart 
of a father, I was playing, so to speak, my last card. 
Did I fail, my dearest Julius was dead. The test was 
decisive, and I had not courage to confront the spec- 
tacle. I was soon freed from this harrowing anguish. 
The voice of Julius — a sweet, joyful voice, fell upon my 
ears : 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 231 

" ' Father ! I can swallow the food ; I can eat ! I am 
sure of it ; I have faith in my cure !' 

" ' What a stroke, sir ! My child with one foot in the 
grave, was cured, and in a moment. And I, his father, 
was a witness of this surprising resurrection. It was 
fortunate that, in order not to disturb the boy's faith, I 
had sufficient presence of mind not to manifest my 
astonishment. 

" ' Yes, my son, it was certain you would be cured, 
nor could it be otherwise,' I said in a voice that all the 
energy of my will had barely succeeded in rendering 
calm. And still, sir, my feelings were tempest-tossed. 
Had my breast been laid bare, it would have been found 
seethed as if by fire. We repeated the test. He eat 
still more biscuit, not only without difficulty but with an 
increasing appetite. I was obliged to restrain him. I 
was forced to proclaim my felicity, and to thank God. 

" ' Wait for me,' said I to Julius, c and pray to the 
good Virgin. I will go up to the chapel. And leaving 
him a moment on his knees in the Grotto, I hurried to 
tell the priest the glad tidings. He was transported 
with joy. Notwithstanding my felicity so unexpected 
and so sudden, notwithstanding the confusion of my 
feelings, I felt my heart and soul inexpressibly worked 
upon. My confused, agitated and tumultuous thoughts 
were revolutionized. All my philosophic views began 
to waver and crumble within me. 

" ' The priest descended in a hurry and saw Julius 
finishing his last biscuit. The Bishop of Tarbes hap- 
pened to be at the chapel that same day. He wished 
to see my son. I told him the history of his terrible 
affliction, which had just had so happy a termination. 
All embraced the child and congratulated me, I was 



232 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

thinking, meantime, of the mother, and the happiness 
that was in store for her. Before returning to the hotel 
I went to the telegraph office. My dispatch contained 
but one word : Cured ! Scarce had the word been 
transmitted than I wished to retract it. Perhaps, said 
I to myself, I have been in too great a hurry. Who 
knows but there may be a relapse ? 

" ' I did not dare believe in the felicity of which I had 
been the recipient ; and when I did flatter myself into 
a belief in its existence, my happiness seemed to fly me. 
As regards the boy, his happiness was not disturbed in 
the least. He was buoyant with joy, and possessed of 
perfect certainty. 

" ' You see well, father,' he repeated ever}' moment, 
c there was no one but the Most Holy Virgin could cure 
me.' And when he said so, I was sure of it. 

" ' At the hotel he eat with a good appetite. I could 
not refrain from watching him. He wished to return 
to the Grotto to thank his liberator ; and we did so. 

" * You ought to be grateful to the Most Holy Virgin,' 
said a priest, while, with a gesture, he pointed to the 
image of the Virgin, and then to heaven. 

" ' Ah! I shall never forget her,' he exclaimed. 

" ' At Tarbes we rested at the same hotel from which 
Ave had set out in the morning. We were expected. A 
happy presentiment of our good fortune had been felt 
by the good people staying there ; and now they mani- 
fested extraordinary joy. They gathered around us 
with real pleasure to see the boy, who in the morning 
could not swallow a spoonful of liquid, now partake 
of everything that was served up. It must be remem- 
bered that he had been suffering for two years and 
seventeen days. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 238 

' We were in a hurry to see mother. We took the 
express train to Bordeaux. The boy overcome by the 
fatigues of the journey, and I should say, by his emo- 
tion, too, on reaching home wished to retire to bed, and 
so did not take supper. His mother haying seen him 
so completely tired out, and unwilling to eat— she who 
had come to greet us with at least some joyful anticipa- 
tions, became the prey of terrible misgivings, and was 
sad beyond description. She said I had deceived her ; 
and even I myself had experienced great mental diffi- 
culty in forcing myself into belief. But what was her 
joy on the following morning when our Julius sat at the 
table, and took breakfast with a better appetite than 
ourselves ! Then only was she tranquil and convinced.' 

4 And after this moment,' I asked, ' was there no re- 
lapse — no change?' 

" ' No, sir ; most decidedly nothing. I cannot say 
whether the cure had advanced by progressive steps, 
or had been consolidated ; but indeed it was as complete 
. as if it had been the work of a moment. . . . The gen- 
eral state of the boy's health improved perceptibly in 
obedience to the power of a restorer, whose salutary 
effects it was time for him to have experienced. * * * 
Doctor Eoques, of Toulouse, recognized the precise and 
positive action of a Superior Being in the case, as he 
conscientiously declared in his letter of the 24th of 
February. * * * In fine, this occurrence has made 
me acknowledge God ; and my grateful recognitions shall 
endure for ever. * * * From that day to this, 
Julius has been angelically pious. He is the joy of his 
teachers and school-fellows, and our consolation.' 

" At this moment the door opened, and Julius entered 
the room with his mother. I laid my hands on his head 



234 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

and embraced him tenderly. The glow of health was 
on his cheeks. ' You are a happy father,' I said to M. 
Lacassagne. 

" ' Yes, sir ; very happy. But my wife and I have 
suffered much.' 

" ' Bewail your sufferings no longer,' I said to him, 
moving a little away from Julius. ' This ordeal of suf- 
fering was the way that led you from darkness to light, 
from death to life, and elevated you out of yourself up 
to God. At Lourdes the Most Holy Virgin has twice 
shown herself the mother of the living. She has given 
your son temporal life, in order to give you that true 
life which shall never end.' 

" I took my leave of this family so favored by God ; 
and with a heart deeply impressed by what I had seen 
and heard, have written this narration." Thus wrote 
Henry Lasserre. 

Enter into yourself, dear reader, and make the fol- 
lowing 

MEDITATION ON CONFIDENCE IN MARY. 

I. Consider what great confidence you should place 
in Mary, because she is powerful. The Holy Fathers, 
with one voice, tell you that Mary's power to obtain 
graces from God is very great ; that she can do by 
prayer what God can by his natural attributes. Quod 
Beits imperio tu prece, Virgo, potes. And again, that at 
the throne of God she commands rather than ; asks. 
Non impetrat sed imperat. * * * Oh ! what a foun- 
dation on which to place confidence in her ! 

II. Consider that another groundwork on which to 
base our confidence in Mary is her goodness. She is all 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 235 

good, all clement, all benign. Dante writes of her, 
(Parad. xxxiii.) : 

La tua benignita non pur soccorre 
A chi domanda, ma molte iiate 
Liberamente al domandar precorre. 

* Not only him, who asks, 
Thy bounty succors ; but doth freely oft 
Forerun the asking. 

Why then do you not have recourse to her with con- 
fidence ? 

III. Mary deserves all our confidence, because she is 
our Mother. Can a mother be deaf to the cries of her 
children? * * * Can she close her heart against 
their supplications ? Has it ever been known that any 
one who invoked her with faith and perseverance, had 
not been heard ? 

Revive your confidence in her, and ask her for all the 
graces you stand in need of. 

Practice. — Recite to-day seven Salve Beginas for your- 
self and all the poor sick. 

Ejaculation. — Spes nostra salve. Hail! Mary Im- 
maculate of Lourdes ; hail thou who art our hope ! 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Wished-for Decision. 

" Thou art the joy of Israel." Judith xv. 10. 

Let us commence this chapter by recording a fact 
*Rev. H, F. Gary. 



236 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

which took place in Rome during the pontificate of 
Benedict XIV. 

An English Protestant was arguing with a Cardinal 
on the Catholic Religion, assailing it with great vigor, 
and, above all, rejecting as false the miracles worked 
by the intercession of the Saints. Shortly after the 
Cardinal happened to be engaged in examining docu- 
ments relative to the Beatification of a servant of God. 
He sent the papers one day to the Protestant, asking 
him to examine them attentively, and to give him his 
views on the amount of faith the testimonies deserved. 
After a day or so, the Englishman returned them — 
" Well, now, sir," asked the Prelate, " what is your im- 
pression with regard to the process of canonization ?" 

" Your Eminence, I confess I have got nothing to 
say ; and if all the miracles of the Saints whom your 
Church canonizes, were as well established as these, I 
would have cause to reflect. * * * God alone could 
do these things, and it would be necessary to admit 
that He is with you." 

" Indeed ?" replied the Cardinal ; " and still we in 
Rome' are more fastidious in our investigations thai, 
you, since these proofs do not seem to us convincing, and 
the cause has therefore been rejected." The English- 
man had been so struck by the scrutinizing process in- 
variably employed by the Church, that he studied the 
Catholic Religion more profoundly, and abjured Pro- 
testantism before he left Rome. 

Now, then, the Church wishes the same caution to be 
used whenever facts that may be supernatural, are to 
be decided ; and the reader can judge for himself if it 
has been employed, pending the process touching the 
woi^ of God at Lourdes. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 237 

The Examining Commission having terminated its 
labors, sent the most minute and detailed report of the 
case to the Bishop. The examination had been con- 
ducted conscientiously, and characterized through- 
out for completeness and profunditj^. The extra- 
ordinary facts of the case were transparent, and 
were accurately known by the people. The declarations 
and the conclusions of chemistry and medicine, harmo- 
niously blending together, were formal and peremptory. 
The Bishop could not but be convinced, as indeed he 
was. Still, through a spirit of extreme prudence, which 
we have several times noticed as characteristic of Mons. 
Laurence, before pronouncing his Episcopal decision on 
this great question, he required a new endorsement of the 
miraculous cures — the endorsement of time, He allowed 
three years to pass by ; at the expiration of which, 
he ordered a second Commission to examine the case. 
The supernatural cures had continued. No one pre- 
sented himself to retract his first testimony, or to dis- 
pute the facts. The works of Him, who reigns through- 
out eternity, have nothing to fear from the proofs of 
time. 

It was not until after this superabundant series of 
demonstrations, proofs and certainties, that Mons. Lau- 
rence gave the decison expected from him. We give 
the principal extracts. 

He commences by promising that in every age there 
have been wonderful communications between heaven 
and earth. In the Old Testament we see God himself 
appearing to our first parents, to the patriarchs, and 
the prophets, and sending His angels in visible form on 
earth. And so also in the New Testament do we find 
these communications, especially apparitions of the 



238 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Most Holy Virgin in divers places, thus inaugurating 
celebrated sanctuaries. 

Then full of gratitude to God, he announces new ap- 
paritions of the Blessed Virgin in the Grotto of Lourdes 
to the little girl Soubirous, which he summarises. The 
sage prelate then proceeds : " The little girl has seen 
and heard a Being calling herself the Immaculate Con- 
ception, and who, though clothed in human form, had not 
been seen or heard by the numerous spectators present 
at the time. Consequently, this must have been a 
supernatural being. What think we of this occurrence ? 
The Church very wisely uses leisure in forming an esti- 
mate of supernatural facts ; and must have certain 
proofs before she admits and proclaims them to be 
divine. * * * Wherefore, have we studied for four 
years, the fact about which we now speak. * * * We 
have placed it before a commission of pious, learned 
and experienced priests, who have questioned the girl, 
studied the details of the case, examined and weighed 
everything. We have called, besides, the authority of 
science to our aid, and have become convinced that the 
apparitions are supernatural and divine, and that conse- 
quently, the person seen by Bernadette, is the Most 
Holy Virgin. Our conviction rests on the testimony 
of Bernadette, but above all, upon the facts that have 
taken place, and which cannot be explained except by 
attributing them to divine agency. 

" The testimonies of the little girl furnish us all the 
guarantees we can desire. And in the first place, her 
sincerity cannot be doubted. On approaching her, who 
does not admire the simplicity, the candor, the modesty 
of this child ? While every one speaks of the wonders 
that have been revealed to her, she alone is silent. She 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 239 

speaks not except when interrogated; and then she 
relates everything without affectation, and with touching 
ingenuousness ; while to the numerous questions put 
her, she gave, unhesitatingly, answers precise, perfectly 
to the point, and bearing the impress of strong con- 
viction. Having been submitted to grave tests, threats 
could not disturb her. To the most generous offers she 
replied with noble disinterestedness. Always consistent 
with herself, she has, during the various interviews to 
which she has been forced to submit, constantly main- 
tained what she had already said, without increase or 
diminution. Bernadette's sincerity is, therefore, indis- 
putable. Even her antagonists, whenever she met 
them, have rendered her this homage. 

" But admitting Bernadette to have had no intention 
of deceiving others, might she not have been deceived 
herself ? Has she not, perchance, believed she saw and 
heard things she did not see or hear ? Was she not 
the victim of illusion ? Why should we believe her ? 
The wisdom of her answers proved that the girls mind 
was well balanced ; that her imagination was calm, and 
that she had sense superior to her age. Beligious sen- 
timent has never betrayed in her a tendency to self- 
exaltation, or produced in her a disordered intellect, 
or impaired her senses, nor made her self-conceited, or 
the victim of any morbid affection which could possibly 
have disposed her to imaginary creations. She had 
seen the Vision not only once, but eighteen times. The 
first time she saw it suddenly, and without any prepar- 
atory notice ; while during the fortnight, although she 
expected to see it every day, there were two occasions 
on which she saw nothing, though placed in identical 
circumstances. And then, what happened during the 



240 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

apparitions? She was transformed; her countenance 
assumed a new expression ; her eyes became brilliant ; 
she saw things she had not seen before, and listened to a 
language never before heard by her— a language whose 
meaning she did not always understand, but whose 
phraseology is stamped upon her memory. This as- 
sociation of circumstances does not permit us, in the 
least, to believe that the girl had been the prey of 
hallucination : the fact is she has really seen a Being 
who called herself the Immaculate Conception ; and this 
phenomenon being naturally inexplicable, we are, there- 
fore, warranted in believing it the work of supernatural 
agency. 

" Bernadette's testimony, important in itself, acquires 
new force— nay more, its complement, from the won- 
derful events that have happened since the first appari- 
tion. If the tree must be judged by its fruit, we can 
assert that the apparition related by the girl, is super- 
natural and divine, because it has produced effects that 
are supernatural and divine. Now, what has happened ? 
The apparition had been scarcely known of, when the 
news flew with the rapidity of lightening. It was known 
that Bernadette would go during fifteen days to the 
Grotto, and lo ! the whole country precedes her. The 
tide of human beings flows fast towards the holy place. 
The solemn moment is waited for with religious im- 
patience; and while the little girl, transported out of 
herself, is absorbed by the object she contemplates, the 
witnesses of this wonder, moved and softened by the 
celestial manifestation, share with her the self-same 
sentiments of admiration and prayer. 

" The apparitions have ceased, but crowds of pilgrims 
from far and near, still continue to go to the Grotto. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 241 

People of all ages, stations and conditions are seen to 
assemble there. And what sentiment impels those 
numerous visitors thither ? All ! they go to the Grotto 
to ask favors of Mary. Immaculate. They demonstrate 
by their devout and recollected attitude, that they feel 
the divine breath that animates that lonely rock, now so 
celebrated. Christian souls have been strengthened in 
virtue ; men rendered ice-cold by indifferentism, have 
been brought back to the practice of religion ; obstinate 
sinners have been reconciled to God, after the Madonna 
of Lourdes had been invoked in their favor. These 
wonders of grace, which bear the stamp of universality 
and duration, cannot have an author, save God. Is not, 
therefore, the truth of the apparitions established? 

" If from the salutary effects produced in souls, we 
pass on to those that relate to the health of the body, 
what new prodigies do we not meet with ?" 

Here he relates the gushing forth of the fountain 
where Bernadette drank and washed in presence of the 
multitude, and resumes: 

"The sick have tasted the water of the Grotto, and 
not without having experienced salutary results. Many 
whose diseases had resisted the most energetic treat- 
ment, have suddenly regained health. These cures re- 
sounded loudly, and the echoes of their fame soon 
spread all around. Invalids in all the surrounding towns 
asked for the water of Massabielle, when they were not 
able to go themselves to the Grotto. How many have 
been cured? How many families have received conso- 
lation? * * ■ ,* Did we wish to call for their testi- 
monies, countless tongues would proclaim in tones of 
gratitude the sovereign efficacy of the water of the 
Grotto. We cannot here enumerate all the favors ob- 



242 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

tained: but what we must say is this, that the water of 
Massabielle has cured invalids who had been given up, 
and pronounced incurable. Their restoration to health 
has been effected by the use of a water devoid of all 
natural curative properties, as the most able chemists, 
who have carefully analyzed it, relate. These recoveries 
have been produced, some instantaneously, others by 
two or three applications of the water used either as a 
drink, or as a lotion. Moreover, these cures are per- 
manent. What power has produced them? Has or- 
ganic force ? Science has answered " No" Therefore, 
they are the work of God. But they are referred to 
the Apparition : this is their starting point ; this it is 
has inspired confidence hi the invalids: therefore, there 
is a close connection between the cures and the Appa- 
rition. The Apparition is divine, because the cures are 
stamped with the seal of the Divinity. But whatever 
comes from God is truth ; therefore the Apparition, 
who called herself the Immaculate Conception, and 
whom Bernadette has seen and heard, is the Most Hory 
Virgin. Let us therefore exclaim: The finger of God 
is here. Digitus Dei est hie. 

" How can we fail to admire the economy of Divine 
Providence ? At the close of the year 1854, the immor- 
tal Pius IX. proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate 
Conception. The words of the Pontiff were echoed 
throughout the bounds of the earth. The hearts of the 
Catholic world throbbed with joy. Every where this 
glorious privilege of Mary was celebrated with feasts, 
the memory of which shall ever remain impressed upon 
our mind. And behold ! about three years afterwards, 
the Most Holy Virgin appears to a little girl and says : 
' I am the Immaculate Conception. * * * I wish 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 243 

a chapel to be erected here in my honor.' Is it not 
plain that she wishes to consecrate with a monument 
the infallible oracle of the successor of St. Peter ? 

" And where does she wish this monument to be 
erected? At the foot of our Pyrenean mountains, a 
locality where assemble the numerous strangers, who 
come from all parts to recover their health at our hot- 
water baths. Would it not be truly said that she calls 
the faithful of all nations to gather there to worship her 
in the new temple that shall be erected to her name ?" 

Then he invites the citizens of Lourdes, and the faith- 
ful throughout his whole diocese to rejoice, and solemnly 
gives his decision : 

"Art. I. We judge that the Immaculate Mary, 
Mother of God, did really appear to Bernadette Soubi- 
rous, on the 11th of February, 1858, and on the follow- 
ing days up to the eighteenth time, in the Grotto of 
Massabielle, near the City of Lourdes ; that this Appa- 
rition bears all the marks of truth, and that the faithful 
are justified in believing it certain. We humbly sub- 
mit our judgment to the judgment of the Sovereign 
Pontiff, who is charged with the guidance of the univer- 
sal Church. 

" Art. II. In order to comply with the will of the Most 
Holy Virgin, often manifested in the apparitions, we 
purpose to build a sanctuary on the site of the Grotto. 
* * * We appeal to all the pious persons in the towns 
all around, who cherish devotion to the Immaculate 
Conception of the Virgin Mary, etc." 

Behold, in fine, the decision so long wished for by all 
the truly devoted of the Immaculate Virgin of Lourdes 
— a decision which brought joy unutterable to their 
hearts. 



244 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Enter into yourself, my reader, and with a heart filled 
with gladness, make the following 

MEDITATION ON MAKY, OUR JOY. 

I. Consider how the Church calls Mary the cause of 
our joy.— Causa nostrce letitke. To her apply the words : 
Thou art the joy of Israel The Church says that when 
we think of Mary, we rejoice. Citjus commemoratione 
ketamur. She compares this privileged creature to 
every thing that brings joy to the world— to the morn- 
ing star, to the aurora, to the moon, to the sun. * * * 
What beautiful instruction for us. * * * Let us re- 
flect. 

II. Consider how we ourselves experience this truth in 
our hearts. When you commence a devotion in her 
honor, when you pray to her, offer her your heart, medi- 
tate on her, celebrate her feasts, kneel at the foot of 
her altars, is it not true that you rejoice, and feel in 
your heart an enchanting sweetness, a joy that nothing 
can equal? How sweet are the invitations of Mary, 
your Mother ! Do you correspond ?. 

III. Consider, moreover, how devoid of sense you are 
if you do not seek in her most amiable heart, in her love, 
and m devotion to her, joy in your sorrows, consolation 
in your affliction, relief in your troubles. * * * How 
stupid you are, if on the other hand you think you shall 
find all this in the false joys of this world. 

Practice.— Recite the Ave Maris Stella for those who 
are suffering afflictions and tribulations. 

Ejaculation.— Causa nostra? Icetitice, or a pro nobis. O 
Mary Immaculate of Lourdes ! cause of our joy, pray 



us. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 245 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Holy Chapel 

" We will go into His tabernacle : we will adore in the place where 
His feet stood." Psalm cxxxi., 7. 

In the seventh apparition, which took place on the 
23d of February, the Immaculate Virgin said to Berna 
dette : " And now, my daughter, go— go tell the priests 
that I wish a chapel to be erected here to me." And 
as the pastor of Lourdes, like a prudent man, did not 
immediately believe, and asked for a sign, she repeated 
her message in the thirteenth apparition, which took 
place on the 2d of March. This second embassy was 
well received by the parish priest, who immediately re- 
paired to the Bishop to inform him of the matter. Ex- 
ceedingly circumspect as he was, the Bishop allowed 
about five months to pass before he issued his pastoral, 
by virtue of which he instituted a commission to ex- 
amine the case ; and finally on the 18th of January, 
1862, by a second pastoral, in which he admitted the 
reality of the apparitions, announced his intention to 
build a chapel at the Grotto, and appealed to the gen- 
erosity of the faithful of the diocese, of all France, and 
of the world at large to concur in bearing the expenses. 

Great was the effect of this invitation. From all 
quarters poured in large offerings, which soon amounted 
to a considerable sum. The Bishop's first act was to 
purchase from the Municipality of Lourdes in the name 
of the See of Tarbes, the Grotto and the land surround- 
ing it, and all the environs of the rocks of Massabielle. 
Providence of God, that plays throughout the universe ! 
The very Syndic, who had given the fact of the appari- 
tions such untoward opposition, was the man to pro- 



246 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

pose the sale of the property to the municipal Council, 
and draw out the deeds. And the very Minister of Wor- 
ship, who had so ignobly resisted the work of God, au- 
thorized the sale of the property, and the building of a 
temple to the Immaculate Conception. The land hav- 
ing been secured, architects were engaged to study the 
design of the temple. First a plan was drawn of a 
small church, but still one of graceful proportions ; but 
when the architect one day presented it to the Cure 
Peyramale in the presence of many ecclesiastics and 
laymen, on the very site of the miraculous fountain, he 
cast on it a glance, and, fired with indignation, tore it 
to pieces and cast it into the Gave. 

" What are you doing ?" exclaimed the architect in 
amazement. 

" You see it," replied the priest. " I am angered at 
what human misery dares to offer to the Mother of God. 
What is to be erected here in memory of the great 
events that have taken place, is not a cramped little 
village church, but a marble temple of such colossal pro- 
portions as the summit of the rocks of Massabielle will 
admit of, and magnificent as your genius can conceive. 
To the work, Mr. Architect. Let your genius do its ut- 
most ; let nothing prevent you from giving us a chef- 
d'oeuvre ; and bear in mind that were you a Michael 
Angelo, your genius would fail to conceive a design 
worthy of the Virgin who has appeared in this place." 

" But Eev. Pastor" — and he scanned him minutely, 
" to accomplish what you say millions would be 
needed." 

" She who knew how to make this living water spring 
from the sterile rock, shall well know how to render the 
hearts of the faithful generous," replied the priest, " Go 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 247 

ahead fearlessly. Why do you doubt, you Christians 
of little faith ?" 

The temple was designed according to the suggestions 
of the man of God. But the site was craggy, and the 
rock rough ; the mountain rose up just in the way, and 
the canal and the Gave flowed nigh. From the city of 
Lourdes there were no streets leading thither. What 
an amount of work was to be done ? But the fervent 
Pastor, in whose ears ever resounded the message sent 
him by the Virgin through Bernadette, was indefatiga- 
ble and restless. Now he encouraged the workmen, now 
overhauled the work, and even hurried on its progress 
by the labor of his own sacred hands. And under his 
vigilant eye soon streets were opened from the city to 
Massabielle, and pathways leading from the Grotto to 
the summit of the rock, were carefully laid out. The 
lands all round underwent alteration. Trees were 
planted and flowers sown. The course of the canal was 
changed, and even the bed of the river itself. The hollows 
along the river's left bank were filled up by contribu- 
tions from the elevated grounds ; and thus was formed 
a beautiful plane. The Grotto was enclosed by an iron 
railing after the fashion of a chapel ; and finally the 
work commenced on the summit of the rock of Massa- 
bielle. It was necessary to cut away the top of it, and 
by means of pickaxes and mining to extend the plane 
of the foundation — now by springing lofty arches, now by 
filling in yawning precipices. The purest gothic style was 
adopted — the idea having been suggested by the form 
of the niche in which the Most Holy Virgin appear- 
ed. The crypt was built, and over it the temple 
proper with its lofty campanile towering to the height 
of over one hundred metres from the plane below. 



248 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

The expense was estimated to reach the sum of 
two millions ; but now between the church and its 
appendages, the house of the Missionaries, and the 
Hospitals now in course of erection, it must have 
already exceeded five millions, and the building still 
continues. 

The chapels of the Rosary are to be built, and sure- 
ly the money will not be wanting. Without asking for 
it, it will be freely given by the pilgrims of all nations. 

And now, my reader, rest here, and reflect first how 
the wish of the Immaculate Virgin has been punctually 
fulfilled by the generous liberality of her children ; and 
next call to mind the actual state of the world. Our 
age has been called the age of light, of progress, and 
unprejudiced opinion ; by others, the age of materialism, 
of carnal instincts, and of the passions ; by others, the 
age of money and avarice. And yet, in the latter half 
of this very age, without material interests, and without 
force, five millions are found to spend on a temple to 
the Madonna. Ah ! explain to me you this generosity 
independent of supernatural intervention 1 As for me, 
I have always been of this opinion. When the nations, 
for such " moonshine," as it is called, put their hands 
into their purses already so drained out by contribu- 
tions, take out their money, and give generously, I say 
they are convinced, and, therefore, have reasons for 
their conviction ; and these reasons are that they see 
and feel that the miraculous work of God is there. And 
such being the case, exclaim in union with the pilgrims 
of Lourdes : " Long live the Immaculate Conception ! 
Long live the Madonna of Lourdes !" and make the fol- 
lowing 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 249 

MEDITATION ON MARY'S SANCTUARIES. 

I. Consider how the Most Holy Virgin Mary wishes 
sanctuaries to he built to her. The one at Lourcles she 
asked for herself, as she did many others, explicitly or 
implicitly in the various epochs of the Church, and in 
different towns. Such is, more or less, the origin of 
over a hundred sanctuaries, which in Italy alone are 
dedicated to Mary, out of the twelve hundred that have 
been raised to her in Europe, and the fifteen hundred 
throughout the world. What joy to think of this great 
honor rendered to Mary ! 

II. Consider how Marij scatters her graces in them. 
As God with regard to the temple of Solomon, so Mary 
with regard to her sanctuaries, says : " I have chosen, 
and have sanctified this place, that my name may be 
there for ever, and my eyes and my heart may remain 
there perpetually.' (2, Paral. vii. 16). And history 
proves how true this is. * ■ * * Have not you your- 
self ever experienced it ? 

III. Consider the consequence of these two truths you 
have meditated on — namely, the care you should have 
according to your state, of these sanctuaries ; the esteem 
in which you should hold them ; the importance you 
should attach to them, by contributing according to 
your means to their preservation and embellishment, and 
by praying for your necessities within their holy pre- 
cincts. * * * Do you do this ? 

Practice. — Give as generous an offering as you can 
to a sanctuary or chapel dedicated to the Immaculate 
Virgin Mary. 

Ejaculation. — Domus aurea, ora pro nobis. O Im- 
maculate Virgin Mary, you who are a house of gold, 
pray for us. 



250 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The Pilgrimages and the Processions to Lourdes. 

u Thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall rise up 
at thy side" — Isaias, lx. 4. 

For a Christian soul sincerely devoted to the Most 
Holy Immaculate Virgin, the anxiety which her children 
at Lourdes manifested in corresponding with her de- 
sires, is a thought full of consolation. In the first two 
apparitions the Blessed Virgin spoke not a word ; but 
in the third she said : " I wish to see many persons as- 
sembled here ;" and in the seventh: " I wish processions 
to be made to the Grotto." I wish to see great crowds 
of people, and these in processions. Let us unite these 
two desires, on account of their material similarity. 
The knowledge of them, borne on the lips of Bernadette, 
passed from mouth to mouth, and lo ! numbers are 
stirred up with anxiety to respond to the most Holy 
Virgin s invitation, and even to this day they respond 
to it by pilgrimages and processions. Let us discuss 
these points in the present chapter. 

The Prophet Isaias, foretelling the great numbers 
that in days to come would enter the Catholic Church 
said of her : " Thy sons shall come from afar, and thy 
daughters shall rise up at thy side." These are words 
precisely applicable to the Most Holy Virgin, the 
Mother of the Catholic Church. Yes, to the Madonna, 
who appeared at Lourdes, these words can be referred : 
Eejoice, Virgin Mary, your sons shall come to you from 
afar, and your daughters shall rise up at your side, by 
reason of so many countless pilgrimages to that blessed 
city. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 251 

From the earliest ages of the Church there have 
been pilgrimages — that is to say, devotional and peni- 
tential journeys from one's own home to distant coun- 
tries and towns, there to visit the holy places upon 
which Heaven has shed its choicest favors, to pray be- 
fore the relics of the Apostles, and of the Martyrs, or 
to meditate on divine truths in some renowned sanc- 
tuary. Hence do we find the pilgrimages to Borne, to 
the tombs of the Apostles, to Jerusalem, to St. James 
of Compostella, in Spain, and to the House of the 
Blessed Virgin in Loretto, crowned with holy celebrity. 
The Church, although having had in many Councils to 
check the abuses and correct the disorders that have 
crept into pilgrimages, has still always approved of them 
as a holy and a pious work. Now no pilgrimage has 
ever received such grand development as that to the 
Madonna of Lourdes in our own time, precisely because 
men did not formerly have these means of rapid 
transit — namely, the steamboat and the railway, which 
modern science has invented. The Pyrenean railway, 
which was first planned to run in a more direct line, 
and at less expense, between Tarbes and Pau, was al- 
tered to pass through Lourdes ; and now it is continu- 
ally bringing, from all parts of the world, pilgrims, 
whose holy and sole object is to pray to the Most 
Holy Virgin who appeared at the Grotto. These de- 
vout travelers come not only from the French provin- 
ces, but from England, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Germany, 
Russia, and even from distant America beyond the 
ocean. How consoling to see the railroads — that grand 
invention which sheds so much lustre on modern 
genius, contributing, in the hands of Providence, to the 
glory of God and of His Holy Mother, and serving, as 



252 me immaculate conception. 

the Church prays in the benediction she pronounces 
upon them, to make the faithful run more rapidly in 
obedience to the laws of God, and in the way of His 
Commandments ! How consoling to see these steam- 
cars changed, as it were, into so many chariots of the 
Ethiopian, Eunuch of Queen Candace, in which the 
Divine Scriptures are meditated upon by the pious 
tourists, and faith and divine grace are increased with- 
in their souls by the exhortations of the priests, even as 
by the instructions of Philip the Deacon.* 

We have already seen that from the time of the ap- 
paritions the pilgrims, who assembled at the Grotto, 
amounted, in one day alone, to the immense number of 
over twenty thousand. Far from diminishing, the num- 
bers have increased. From 1858 to 1864 the pilgrims 
went to Lourdes either dispersedly or in companies, 

* The Christian, who follows the precept of St. Paul — namely, 
whether you eat, or drink, or do anything else, do all for the glory 
of God — can, while traveling by rail, become imbued with the spirit 
of the Church in this respect, as manifested in the blessing of rail- 
roads and cars . "Omnipotent and eternal God, who hast created 
all the elements for Thy glory, and for the benefit of mankind, 
deign to bless this railroad, and all the appliances connected with 
it, and protect them always by Thy divine providence, to the end 
that while Thy servants run rapidly along the track, they may be 
enabled, by walking in the path of Thy law and commandments, 
happily to arrive at their heavenly country. Bless, O Lord, these 
carriages with Thy sacred right hand, and give them in charge to 
Thy haly Angels, that they may protect and defend the passengers 
from all the dangers that beset them ; and as to the Ethiopian, who 
sat reading the Sacred Scriptures in his chariot, Thou didst grant 
faith and grace through Thy Levite, Philip, so, too, show the road 
of salvation to Thy servants, that being helped by Thy grace, and 
ever intent on good works, they may, after having passed through 
all the changes of this journey and of this life, be found worthy to 
attain eternal joy," 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 253 

but not in processional form. The first great procession 
was formed on the 4th of April, 1864, when the mag- 
nificent statue of white Carrarian marble, with a blue 
girdle, and around its head the golden inscription " / am 
the Immaculate Conception" was blessed and erected with 
great pomp in the rustic niche of the Grotto in which 
the Virgin appeared to Bernadette. Such a procession 
had never been seen before. Troops of soldiers in gala 
costume led the way, then followed, each bearing its 
own peculiar banner, the confraternities of Lourdes, the 
Benevolent Societies, all the Corporations of these 
districts with their banners and their cross, eight other 
large associations, four hundred Priests, the Canons of 
Lourdes, and the Mons. Bishop — in all from fifty to 
sixty thousand people, gladdened with vocal and in- 
strumental music, and all the festive magnificence that 
the grandeur of Catholic functions and popular enthu- 
siasm, when at its acme, can suggest. Two persons 
only who had had the first part in the facts of the 
Grotto, were absent — poor Bernadette lying sick in the 
hospital, because of her extreme poverty ; and the Cure 
Peyramale, who was also very seriously ill. Providence 
of God, always adorable in His inscrutible decrees ! 

After this many other processions of pilgrims went to 
the holy Grotto ; still as the temple and the roads lead- 
ing from the city of Lourdes to thq Rock of Massabielle 
were in course of construction, these processions were 
unable to assume a fixed character up to 1866 or 1867. 
From this epoch I will now give you some statistics 
relative to the number of the pilgrimages and the pro- 
cessions. Within nine years there have been 680 grand 
processions to Lourdes, numbering in all 556,000 pil- 
grims from all the French Provinces, from Belgium, 



2S54 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Germany, Italy, and America. England and Ireland 
are at present organizing pilgrimages thither. 

And it is well to note here that these great proces- 
sions were not made up exclusively of women. Com- 
mencing from the year 1868, a procession of 900 men 
from Bayonne arrived in Lourdes. Over 1,000 Vandals, 
exclusively men, defied the rigors of winter in the month 
of November, 1872. In 1874, 4,000 men of the diocese 
of Eodez furnished a spectacle that made all France 
wonder, and was the decisive signal of its grand relig- 
ious movement. In 1875, 9,000 men journeyed forth 
from Bayonne, and were followed by 3,400 from Carcas- 
sone, 2,700 from Perigneux, 7,500 from Auch ; the inhab- 
itants of Toulouse and other southern cities were pre- 
paring, but having been detained by the floods, they 
finished the year in the depth of winter, over 20,000 men 
from Tarbes, whilst those from Toulouse, having 
been impeded the year before, numbered 11,000 in their 
procession on Easter Tuesday, the 18th of April, 1876. 

Nothing equals the grandeur of these pilgrimages of 
the male sex. With the cross upon their breasts, their 
beads in hand, and their lips employed in prayer and 
spiritual canticles, they are disheartened neither by snow 
nor rain, the wintery blast nor the summer sun. Their 
only trouble is that when they are so numerous, they 
cannot find an inclosure sufficiently large to allow them 
to receive Holy Communion in a body. And be it 
understood that all we have spoken of is independent 
of the great French national pilgrimage of the 6th of 
October 1872, on which memorable day over 40,000 
persons assembled at Lourdes, and presented their 
solemn homage to the Mother of God, having unfurled 
the four hundred banners of their respective parishes 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 255 

and dioceses., and of the sanctuaries of Mary, ancient 
and modern. 

And now, dear reader, consider all this, and join to it 
the 100,000 people, the 35 Bishops, the 3,0C Priests, 
who assembled at Lourdes about the commencement of 
July last, to assist at the feast of the Consecration of 
the Basilica, and the Coronation of the statue of the 
Madonna ; finish by taking a glance at the second 
Italian pilgrimage, lately made, and at so many others 
from divers parts of the world, and tell me then if the 
prophecy of Isaias has not been fulfilled in Immaculate 
Mary of Lourdes : " Lift up thy eyes round about, and 
see ; all these are gathered together, they are come to 
thee ; thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters 
shall rise up at thy side." Tell me if it is not a consoling 
reflection that the desire manifested by the Holy Virgin 
for the inauguration of pilgrimages and processions, has 
been complied with to the letter ! How happy the most 
loving heart of our most sweet Mother must feel at the 
accomplishment of her will ! 

And you, poor unbelievers, you Catholics in name 
and not in practice, who, without believing the while, 
are obstinate in uttering so many falsehoods against the 
Madonna of Lourdes, do you not blush for shame? 
Are you not ground to powder beneath the crushing 
weight of proofs that so clearly demonstrate the cer- 
tainty of the apparitions, and the continual flow of 
grace? And you who will not believe, as you say, in 
these apparitions and miracles under the pretext that 
God has already worked so many miracles, and that we 
are a complexity of miracles to ourselves — open your 
eyes and see. How do you know, vile worms of the 
earth, whether it is necessary or not, for God to work 



256 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

new miracles ? Necessary, or needless, clo you not see 
the great benefits humanity derives from them ? Faith 
re-inkindled, devotion revived, piety rendered fervent 
again, religious sentiment awakened and propagated in 
every heart — and all this in consequence of the miracles 
of Lourdes ; — was it not well then that God worked 
these miracles, whether we admit, or deny their neces- 
sity ? Cast one glance on these pilgrims who, from far 
and near, journey on to Lourdes. 

The faithful are prepared for the pilgrimage by prayer 
and the Sacrament of Penance. As a general rule, be- 
fore leaving home, the pilgrims hear Mass in a body, 
and recite the prayers contained in the itinerary* ; 
and, having ascended the cars, scarce has the locomotive 
whistled, and the train begun to move, when they in- 
tone the Litany of the Blessed Virgin and recite the 
Memorare for the successful issue of the pilgrimage ; 
and, after the example of our Holy Father, Pius IX., 
when he entered the diligence, chaunt the Be profandis 
to recommend the journey to the holy souls in purga- 
tory. Along the way then, except during the stoppings 
at the various stations, they pray or sing hymns almost 
continually. What a magnificent and consoling spec- 
tacle ! While the electric wires and the machinery of 
the engine, and the coal, water, and fire are all minis- 
tering to the pilgrims, they are also ministering to God ; 

* A magnificent collection of prayers found in the end of the 
Roman Breviary. Such of the faithful as cannot avail themselves 
of this, can, when commencing their journey, devoutly make the 
sign of the cross, recite the Benedictus, if they know it, or five 
Paters Aves and Glorias, and the Angelus, in order to obtain the 
blessing of a safe journey. It would be better still, if they could 
recite these prayers in church before departing. Our fathers used 
to do so— and matters went well with them. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 257 

and those courageous Christians, with the cross upon 
their breasts, like new Crusaders, go forth to combat 
indifferentism, naturalism, and modern egotism, arrayed 
as they are in the double armor of prayer and good ex- 
ample. O you railroad employees ! O you indolent 
Christians ! who see these new apostles pass by, why do 
you not reflect even once ? They tell you that the 
Madonna is still your mother, * * * that she will in- 
terest herself in your behalf if, like them, you put your 
hand to your breast, and reflect that you have got an 
immortal soul, * * * that there is a God, indignant, 
perhaps, with you on account of so many profanations 
of His feasts, but still inviting you to penance, * * * 
that there is an eternity awaiting you. * * * Profit 
by these spiritual lessons. 

Having arrived in Lourdes, they arrange themselves 
in line of procession, display their crosses, unfurl their 
banners and standards, and, saluted by the parish bells 
that peal forth their festive notes, cross the city and, 
singing canticles, proceed to the holy Grotto. Having 
reached the crossing of the two roads, one of which 
slopes down to the Grotto, and the other leads up to 
the Basilica, which also salutes them with the pealing 
of its bells, and having received a warm reception from 
the Missionaries of the Immaculate Conception, the 
guardians of the sanctuary, they enter the church, hear 
Mass, receive Holy Communion, and then descend into 
the Grotto to drink of the miraculous water. Towards 
evening they assemble again at the Grotto, and 
after having prayed and heard a short exhorta- 
tion from some pious priest, make a torch-light 
procession, perhaps the only one of the kind in 
the world. The procession advances from the Grotto 



258 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

along the pathway that creeps, in a serpentine manner, 
up the mountain slopes, and leads to the sanctuary. 
It is composed of women, men, priests and bishops, each 
bearing in hand a long candle of purest wax, protected 
on top by a sort of paper funnel, on which is painted a 
picture of the Grotto, or the words : " Long live Pius 
IX," Now you can find nothing more beautiful than 
these nocturnal processions. When the night has already 
spread its dark mantle over the earth ; when the stars 
of heaven, by their sparklings, are proclaiming the glory 
of God and of Mary, and are representing to human 
thought the thousand hearts that beat with love for 
them in heaven and on earth, these fervent Christians, 
who sing the praises of Mary as they advance along 
these pathways now lit up by a thousand flambeaus, 
which gracefully reproduce, amid the darkness, the in- 
itials of her most holy name, display the crowns and 
garlands, and ensigns they carry in her honor. What 
an enchanting sight ! What a consolation to the heart 
that is truly devoted to Mary ! 

O you Atheists — at least you who are such in name ; — 
you rationalists, inclifferentists, sceptics, unbelievers of 
every denomination, why do you not go to witness these 
spectacles, which would do you so much good ! How 
do you explain all this transport and enthusiasm 
amongst the faithful ? Who pays them ? — who com- 
pensates them for the great fatigues of the pilgrimage, 
undergone amid so many insults heaped upon them by 
you, and for the nights they pass in railway cars in 
watching and prayer ? Every effect has its propor- 
tionate cause. What cause do you assign capable of 
producing so continuous and wide-spread a good ? Ah ! 
turn you, too, to the Madonna of Lourdes, and ponder 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 259 

over this stanza of one of our Italian poets : 

Deh ! alfin nosco invocate il suo gran nome, 
Salve, dicendo, o degli afflitti scampo, 
Inclita come il sol, terribil come. 

Oste schierata in campo. 

"Ah! call upon her great name even now, saying to 
her : ' Hail, comfort of the afflicted, glorious as the sun, 
terrible as an army drawn up in battle line.' " 

MEDITATION ON THE PUBLIC WOESHIP OF MARY. 

I. — Consider how much Mary is pleased when public 
worship is rendered her. At Lourdes she herself ex- 
pressly demanded it through her innocent daughter, 
Bernadette ; and during the fortnight, as the little girl 
related, Mary fixed her eyes upon the multitude assem- 
bled at the Grotto, and was very much pleased with 
them. In a word, Mary is pleased with everything 
that is good and holy, and, therefore with the public 
worship tendered her. Do you participate in it ? 

II. — Consider the advantages of the public worship of 
Mary. They are good example, mutual edification, and 
consequently, the renewal of all the Christian virtues, 
and the putting to flight that cursed human respect, 
which draws so many souls into a neglect of duty, the 
omission of good works, and, therefore, finally into per- 
dition. Reflect particularly upon this point, * * * 
How does your conscience feel with regard to human 
respect ? 

III. — Consider the consequence of this, — -namely, that 
you, too, should become animated with the desire of 
taking part in the public worship of Mary, and should, 
when possible, be present at the pilgrimages and pro- 



260 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

cessions, which are inaugurated in her honor. Toil 
should frequent the churches in which her feasts are 
celebrated, become associated with the Societies whose 
object is to promote her glory, etc., thereby to trample 
down human repect, than which there is nothing more 
vile and debasing, more hurtful and pernicious to your 
spiritual welfare. 

Practice. — Go publicly to hear a Mass, or a sermon, 
in honor of Mary. 

Ejaculation — Non erttbesco Evangelium. — O Immacu- 
late Mary of Lourdes, assist me to overcome human 
respect in matters of religion. 



CHAPTER IX. 

To Pray for Sinners and To Do Penance. 

*' To-day if you shall hear His voice, harden not your hearfcs." — 
Pslm. xciv., 8. 

The third desire manifested by the Immaculate Virgin at 
Lourdes, is an invitation to pray for sinners and for the 
world so much agitated, and to do penance. On the 21st 
of February, the first Sunday of Lent, in the sixth appari- 
tion, the Blessed Virgin turned her eyes around the world, 
and then fixed them dolorously on Bernadette. * * * 
" Why are you so sad ?" asked the innocent little girl ; 
" What do you desire to be done ?" * * * "I wish 
prayers to be offered up for poor sinners, for this world so 
much agitated," replied the Immaculate Virgin. And on 
Wednesday, the 24th of February, in the eighth apparition, 
she made the little girl drag herself along on her knees, 
exclaiming : " Penance ! Penance ! Penance !" And on 
the following day she ordered her to eat a little of the grass 
that was growing at the foot of the Rock. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 261 

By these acts — the grief she manifested, and the words 
she spoke, the tender Mother of the human race is recognised 
— she who twelve years previously had shed so many tears for 
sinners at Salette . * * * Sweet Mary ! What a loving 
heart ! What concern for her children ! What anxiety to 
ward off the strokes of chastisement they deserve for their 
sins ! 

Could this tender desire of hers be forgotten ? Nay, it 
was this very desire that gave origin to the prayers that 
are continually poured forth in the Grotto and in the 
Sanctuary. For eighteen years the immense multitudes 
that assemble at Lourdes, after having offered, by way of 
penance, the troubles and trials of their long journey, and 
their privations of every kind, have received the Sacra- 
ments, heard Mass, and prayed continually in the Grotto 
and Basilica. The Masses commence at midnight, and are 
almost always in course of celebration up to noon. Crowds 
of persons are always in attendance. The hours from noon 
till midnight are employed in the recitation of the Bosary, 
in chanting litanies, the Magnificat, the Ave Maris Stella, 
the Ave Maria, and hymns — especially the one recording 
the history of the apparitions. The pilgrims go by turn to 
the Grotto, and prayers continually ascend to heaven from 
a thousand lips: priests, laymen and women on the esplan- 
ade, along the sloping banks of the Gave facing the Grotto, 
discharge the office of the Angels ; an everlasting canticle 
of praise is sung day and night to the Mother, the Befuge 
of Sinners. 

And with what unction are prayers recited there ! To 
look upon that statue, to think of the desire manifested by 
the common Mother of the faithful, to pray for sinners— 
this is sufficient to chase away distractions from the mind, 
and absorb it in heavenly contemplation. We must needs 
judge so from the tears that flow in abundance from the 
eyes of all; from the exclamations that burst from the lips 



^62 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

of the multitudes, incapable of containing the immense 
grief and love that fill their hearts. * * * Oh! sacred 
Grotto of Lourdes ! Who can forget the moments passed 
within thy hallowed precincts ! Who can forget the nights 
especially when, as the midnight hour adds its solemn still- 
ness to the awful impressiveness the place inspires, the 
singing ceases, and the Masses begin ! In that silent hour 
the sacred and propitiatory Host is immolated to the jus- 
tice of God, and His mercy is invoked. The Lamb of God, 
who takes away the sins of the world, is offered to the 
Father to call down His blessings, and to obtain peace. 
Whilst the earth is yet wrapped up in darkness, the human 
heart is softened; the sinner enters into himself , and weeps. 
He cannot explain the reason; but yet, he weeps beyond 
measure, and ( strange coincident) his tears are sweet and 
delicious. * * * He weeps for his own sins, and the 
scandals he has given. * * He weeps for the sins and 

scandals of his parents, friends, acquaintances, and of those, 
too, he knows not of. * * * He weeps for all sinners 
who have saddened the heart, and brought tears from the 
eyes of the most beautiful of all creatures, the most tender 
of all mothers, the most amiable of all queens. * * * And 
amid the blaze of three hundred torch-lights, which con- 
tinually burn at the feet of the statue of the Immaculate 
Conception, he lifts up his eyes to her whom it represents, 
and remembers that eighteen years ago she appeared in 
that niche with sorrow depicted in her countenance — a sor- 
row so deep, so touching, as to bring floods of tears to the 
eyes of innocent Bernadette. * * * " Oh ! Mother ! Oh ! 
good and tender Mother!" he exclaims, with a heart burst- 
ing with emotion. What condescension ! You have been 
pleased to come down from heaven to make us understand 
how much you are grieved by our sins . And we, ungrate- 
ful, cruel wretches, are the cause of your dolors. * * * So 
wicked are we that we cause you to suffer even now. * * * 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 263 

Ah ! your grief made that innocent dove weep, as she wit- 
nessed it, * * * I, alone, have a heart of flint; I, who have 
sinned in boyhood, have become worse in manhood, and even 
now feel my conscience weighed down by the enormity of my 
crimes. •■ * * Oh! pardon me, tender and compassionate 
Mother ! Pardon for me, pardon for my parents, friends, ac- 
quaintances, and for every one. Grace, O Queen of Heaven, 
grace from Jesus — that Jesus, who, for love of us, and for our 
sins, is offered to the Father. * * * I will go to confession. 
I will confess all the sins of my whole life with sincerity and 
hearty contrition . I will amend my life, and cause others, 
by my good example, to do likewise. * * I will now 
console you as much as I have previously offended you. 
* * * Pardon ! ! ! 

And soon the examen of conscience is commenced, which 
is an easy matter; and if it be a man, he whispers one of 
thelMissionaries, who are always in attendance at the Grotto, 
and with him retires into some corner, kneels down, and 
makes his confession. If it be a woman, she goes up to the 
Sanctuary, and as soon as she can, approaches one of the 
confessionals, and having confessed, prepares, at least when 
it is possible, to receive Holy Communion in the Grotto, 
under the eyes of Mary. * * * My God ! What delight ! 
Who shall give Thee to me, my brother Jesus, imbibing my 
mother's milk, that I may find Thee, and embrace Thee ? 
Quis mihi det te ? And having received Him on his tongue, 
and into his breast in the Holy Communion, he retires with 
Jesus in his heart, and embraces Him in the company of 
Mary. * * * Jesus and Mary are with him, * # * Let us 
respect this hour of heavenly benediction. I conjure you, 
O daughters of Jerusalem, that you disturb not, or awake 
that happy soul in union with God, until she herself 
wishes. Adjuro vos, etc. 

And, indeed, this soul enjoys its God in the embraces of 
Mary, and long and delicious is its enjoyment, * * And 



264 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

when he opens his eyes, and lets fall his arms that were 
crossed upon his breast, his tongue lisps a fervent prayer. 
He prays for himself that he may obtain the grace of per- 
severence in goodness; he prays for all. And now, happy 
soul, return to thy home; and if carnal inclinations and the 
force of habit try to detach thee from God, and from the 
Madonna of Lourdes, it will be only a momentary ordeal: 
only turn your mind and heart to Mary, and she will free 
you from your temptations immediately and for ever. 

To corroborate this we extract the following fact from 
the Semaine Eeligieuse de Tours: — 

" An old sinner, one of those grown callous in sin," 
writes the Rev. Father Maria Antonio/' had come from 
afar to visit the Madonna of Lourdes, urged thereto by mere 
curiosity. He met me in the crypt of the Basilica, and in 
the act of offering me some money, said : ' Rev. Father, a 
townsman of mine, knowing that on my journey I would 
have to pass through Lourdes, commissioned me to get a 
Mass celebrated in this Basilica. Here is the money he 
has given me.' 

" Money, I replied, money ? I do not need any ; nor do I 
look for it ; rather am I anxious about your soul. Have 
you been to confession?'' 

" ' No, Father ; nay, I have even forewarned the person 
who has commissioned me to get the Mass celebrated, that 
he need not expect to learn of my having gone to confes- 
sion. And you, without knowing the least thing about me, 
speak to me of confession. Do you know there is something 
strange in this f 

" No, my friend, there is nothing strange in iny words. 
What would be really strange is that you would come to 
this holy place with grievous sins upon your soul, and go 
back burdened as you have come. Oh ! you do not know 
the power and the goodness of the Madonna of Lourdes. 
Have you been to the Grotto to pray ? 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 265 

" ' No, Father, I have only just arrived ? 

"Well, my friend, allow me to accompany you to that 
holy cave, and there pray with you. 

" < Willingly, fattier.' 

" We descended together. The passage between the 
Grotto and the Gave was full of pilgrims. I said to my 
companion : ' Here you will scarcely be able to see the 
Madonna. Let us enter the Grotto. 5 I had the key. I 
opened the door, and we entered. 

" £ Father, what are we going to do ?' 

" ' We must begin to pray to the Madonna/ 

(i ' All! father, what say you? I have not prayed in fifty 
years.' 

" c One reason more to urge you not to lose a moment. 
Let us commence this very instant.' 

" I fell upon my knees, and my companion, docile as a 
lamb, knelt with me. And that man, who had not prayed 
in half a century, seemed to me to assume a most fervent, 
prayerful attitude. At last I said to him : ' My good 
friend, when prayers are offered up to the Virgin in the 
manner you offer them, she cannot refuse anything. Do 
you know what she desires of you ?' 

" ' Yes, father, too well I know it ; and for a long time 
has she been asking it of me. But can a sinner like me, so 
old, so wicked, receive pardon — obtain mercy ? A whole 
year would not suffice to prepare me for confession.' 

" ' Why do you speak so, my brother ? In the presence 
of Mary Immaculate, you can prepare yourself quicker than 
you imagine. ' 

"I took him by the hand and conducted him behind 
the altar of the Grotto. He fell on his knees and made his 
confession. What took place in the soul of that poor sin- 
ner, God only knows; and Mary and the angels have wit- 
nessed it. His tears and the joyful tones of his voice after 
confession evidenced it sufficiently to the pilgrims." 



266 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Behold the fulfillment of the third desire manifested by 
Mary at the Grotto of Lourdes — namely, to pray for sinners 
and to do penance. 

My dear reader, allow me your confidence, if you j)lease. 
We are brothers, because we are both children of Mary. I 
have been in that holy Grotto, and I have seen and felt; 
and T assure you I shall never forget the holy sentiments 
it awakened within me. And, my dear brother, how do you 
feel in conscience ? Has not, perchance, our Immaculate 
Mother been calling you a long time to penance by making 
a good general confession, or at least to a life more humble, 
more chaste, more detached from the persons and the 
things of earth ? Listen to me, my dear brother, take my 
advice : if you go to Lourdes, to the holy Grotto, your 
Mother will speak to your heart, and she will work there 
great things in you. But if you cannot go there because of 
the distance, in the privacy of your room, or in a church, 
prostrate yourself before an image of Mary, fix your eyes 
upon it lovingly and long, enter into yourself, and examine 
your conscience. . . . To-day, Mary invites you by the 
mouth of a sinner such as I am, to harden your heart no 
longer. * * * Harken to the words Mary speaks to 
your heart, and you shall be happy. But, oh! recur to 
her with confidence. Hesitate not in attending to her in- 
vitation, and may God assist you. 

Dear reader, scan this present chapter attentively over 
again, and it will serve you for a meditation. 

Practice. — Make a general confession of your sins, if your 
father confessor allow T you. 

Ejaculation. — Refugium peccatorum ora pro nobis. Im- 
maculate Virgin of Lourdes, you who are the refuge of 
sinners, pray for us. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 267 

CHAPTER X. 

A palpable proof of the Truth of the Apparitions of Lowdes : 
or Mr. Henry Lasserre. 

" Come to me, all you that labor, and are burdened, and I will 
refresh you." — Math, xi., 28. 

We are living in what is called an age of light —the truth 
or falsity of which it is not our purpose to discuss here ; — 
but it is a fact that in this, our day, each one wishes to 
judge and dispute every question — too often without the 
necessary provision of scientific cognitions, which would 
render the disputation interesting, or, at least, agreeable, 
and free, to some extent, the judgment arrived at from the 
imputation of rashness. Now, all have not been, nor are 
they at present able to touch with their hands the truth of 
the proofs we have recorded. In order to accomplish this, 
it would be necessary to enter into a train of reasoning — a 
process which this age of ours little loves. Nevertheless, 
with regard to the facts of Lourdes, Providence has been 
pleased to put within the reach of all two proofs, which even 
now they can test, to the end that all may be able to judge 
of the truth of the apparitions, and cast themselves at the 
feet of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. The first is the cure 
of Mr. Lasserre, which we will relate in this chapter. 

" During nry whole life," writes Mr. Henry Lasserre, " I 
had been blessed v/ith excellent sight. I could distinguish 
objects at an immense distance, and read a book rapidly 
when at proper range from my eyes. Entire nights passed 
in study did not fatigue them in the least. I had wondered 
myself at their endurance. Judge then my surprise, and the 
cruel anguish I experienced, when, in the months of June and 
July, 1862, 1 felt my sight gradually becoming weak, thereby 
rendering night- work intolerable, and refusing, little by little, 
to be of any service to me, so that I had been necessitated 
to give up reading and writing altogether ! If I attempted 



268 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

to take up a book, the reading of three or four lines, some- 
times the very first glance, so fatigued my eyes that it was 
absolutely impossible for me to proceed. I consulted many 
physicians, and especially two distinguished occulists — 
namely, M. Desmares and M. Giraud- Teulon." And he goes 
on to say that the remedies they prescribed — and they were 
many and powerful, did him very little good; while the disease 
began insensibly to assume the chronic character of incurable 
maladies. Hence it was that he left Paris and retired to 
the country, availing himself of the services of a young sec- 
retary, who used to read to him what he desired, and write 
according to his dictation. About the beginning of Septem- 
ber, he got him to write a letter to an intimate friend of his, 
a Protestant, and whose wife was also of that persuasion. 
This gentleman replied on the 15th inst., telling him that 
when passing through Lourdes he had visited the Grotto, 
and had heard of such wonderful cures effected by the 
water of the fountain that, had he been a Catholic, he would 
not have hesitated to give it a trial. He concluded by ex- 
horting Lasserre to tiy the experiment, even if it were only 
to please him ; because, if ever cured, this would be a 
most important fact for him as a Protestant; — so much the 
more readily ought he comply as it was sufficient to write to 
the Cure of Lourdes, who would send him some of the 
water. * * * Mr. Lasserre replied to him in the nega- 
tive. In the beginning of October, on his way to Paris, he 
called upon his friend and lady. Although Protestants — 
we repeat it — they said so much that they finally prevailed 
upon him to write. His friend acted as his amanuensis, and 
wrote for him to the Cure of Lourdes. Next morning (sin- 
gular enough for a Protestant, and worth recording), he ex- 
horted him to go to confession before receiving the water, 
and to put himself in that state prescribed by the Catholic 
religion, in order to obtain the grace of God. Every day 
his friend inquired about the reply to the letter, which 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 269 

finally arrived, informing him that the water had been given 
in charge to the railroad company, and that he would re- 
ceive it soon. 

The water arrived on the evening of the 10th of October. 
Mr. Lasserre went to approach the tribunal of penance ; 
but the confessor was engaged. He went home troubled, 
and, after some hesitation, got the water ready, and on his 
knees made the following prayer : 

" Yes, my God, I am a miserable sinner, unworthy to lift 
up my voice to Thee, and to touch anything Thou hast 
blessed; but this very excess of my misery ought to excite 
Thy compassion. My God, I come to Thee and to the Holy 
Virgin Mary, full of faith and self-abandonment, and from 
the depths of the abyss of my wretchedness raise up my 
cries to Thee. This evening I will confess my sins to Thy 
minister, but my faith cannot and will not wait. Pardon 
me, O Lord, and heal me. And Mother of Mercy, come 
thou to the aid of thy sinful son." Then he took a napkin, 
wet a corner of it in the water of Lourdes, and kneeling 
down once more, exclaimed in a loud voice: " O, Holy Vir- 
gin Mary, have pity on me and cure my physical and moral 
blindness." Having spoken these words, with a heart full 
of confidence, he rubbed his eyes and face with the napkin 
moistened in the water of the sacred fountain. 

" This act," he continues, " did not occupy thirty seconds. 
Judge of my amazement, I had almost said, my fear. Scarce 
had I touched my eyes and face with the water, than I felt 
cured instantly and without transition — with an instanta- 
neity which, in my feeble language, I can assimilate only to 
the quickness of lightning." He could scarcely believe his 
senses, but he was cured indeed, and was able to read one 
hundred and four pages of the account of the apparitions of 
the Holy Virgin of Lourdes, which the Cure had sent him 
along with the bottle of water. He went to confession, and 
spoke to his confessor about the occurrence that very even- 



270 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

ing; and on the following morning received Holy Com- 
munion. He afterwards went to see his Protestant friends, 
who had so providentially contributed to the working of -the 
miracle. They were astonished; * * and God had finished 
His work. From that time his eyes troubled him no more, 
and his sight is to day as excellent as it was at first. He 
finishes his narrative in these words: " O God, grant me 
grace not to use my eyes in future, except to do good, and 
to promote Thy glory." 

God heard his prayer. In gratitude he promised to write 
the history of the events which gave rise to the pilgrimages 
to Lourdes, and went to work immediately. Being a man 
of wonderful genius, rare erudition, and iron will, and an 
exceedingly scrupulous historian, before taking up his pen, 
he was determined to see everything, and feel with his hand. 
Wherefore, he traveled much through France in order to 
question the witnesses of the facts he records. He searched 
the municipal archives of Lourdes, and as many others as he 
could; and finally, after seven years' labor, published his in- 
comparable history, entitled: Notre Dame de Lourdes, par 
Henri Lasserre. He sent a copy to Pope Pius IX., who 
wrote him a magnificent Brief on the 4th of September, 
1869. The book has been translated into all the modern 
languages. The edition of which we avail ourselves, bears 
the date 1876: it is the 86th French edition. 

In the year 1873, he divided his book into thirty-one 
lectures for the month of Mary, and in the introduction 
earnestly invites those who may be the recipients of any 
miraculous favor at the hands of Our Lady of Lourdes, to 
notify him of it by mail. He gives his address: Henry Las- 
serre, a Coux pres Siorac, (Dordogne), France. His is an 
ardent love; and he is at present preparing a sequel to his 
history. He even gives the address of the parties he re- 
cords, for the benefit of those who may feel inclined to test 
the truth of his account. The words of the proverb are 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 271 

applicable here : Let him who does not wish to believe, go and see, 
or who does not believe, let him see : a very easy thing to accom- 
plish by writing to the persons mentioned. It is true there 
is no longer an opposition party of good faith; Mr. Las- 
serre has, by his book, closed the mouths of all because, as 
an independent and learned Catholic journalist has said, his 
investigations produce the highest grade of credibility; 
nay, more; no one can even pretend to demonstrate the 
truth of a fact. But yet, there are always Voltaires and 
opposers of the bad faith class who believe not because they 
do not wish. Well, if the mouths of this latter class have 
not been closed, which would be impossible, at least, the 
mask has been taken from their faces by another distin- 
guished person, as we shall record in the following chapter. 
And now, dear reader, while you consider how M. Henry 
Lasserre, having made his sacramental confession, prepared 
himself on the evening of the 10th of October, 1862, to re 
ceive Holy Communion on the following morning, enter in- 
to yourself and make the following 

MEDITATION ON PREPARATION FOR HOLY COMMUNION. 

I. Consider how, in order to make this preparation, you 
must call to mind the infinite perfection of that God, whom 
we receive in Holy Communion. He is infinitely great, * * 
* holy, * * * just, * * * powerful. Oh ! what a preparation we 
should make for Communion, in which we are to receive 
Him! 

II. Consider how we should call to mind our own wretched- 
ness. We are sinners —miserable in every respect. Our 
minds are engaged by the vanities of the world, and our 
hearts are wrapped up in the love of creatures. We are 
completely needy, and God can and will assist us in the 
Holy Communion. How necessary, then, is it for us to pre- 
pare ourselves diligently, before we approach Him in this 
Sacrament ! * * * Do you make such a preparation ? 



272 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

III. Consider the manner in which this preparation is to 
be made — namely, to excite within us faith — hope — charity 
— contrition for our sins — humility — the desire to receive 
God, and to have recourse to the intercession of the Virgin 
Mary, St Joseph, our Angel Guardians and Patron Saints. 
My dear reader, do you prepare yourself thus to make your 
Communions ? 

Practice. — Make to-day acts of faith, hope, charity and 
contrition, by way of preparation for Communion. 

Ejaculation. — Sweet heart of my Jesus, grant that I may 
love Thee ever more. Sweet heart of Mary, be thou my 
protection. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Ten Thousand IAvres to Gain. 
** In all things you are made rich." — 1. Cor., 1. 5. 

The Sovereign Pontiff, Pius IX., in his brief to Henry 
Lasserre so often mentioned, predicted that his book would 
be in the hands of the Most Holy Virgin an instrument, by 
means of which she would arouse men's devotion to, and 
confidence in her, in order that all might participate in the 
fullness of her graces This prediction of the Vicar of Jesus 
Christ upon earth, has produced its effect. One proof out 
of a thousand, is the following : 

In the month of June 1871, a young girl of fourteen years 
of age, named Juliette Fournier, was on the point of death 
by reason of a complication of diseases under which she 
had been laboring for many months, and which had baffled 
every remedy, Her uncle, Mr. Emilius Artus d'Alencon, 
having become enraptured with Lasserre's book, which he 
read through with avidity in one night, recommended the 
water of Lourdes. She drank of it, bathed her enfeebled 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 273 

limbs with it, and was cured instantly and completely. On 
account of this miracle her father and her elder brother 
— both professed skeptics, returned to God, as happened in 
hundreds of other cases. Mr. Artus, having paid his grate- 
full acknowledgments to the Madonna of Lourdes by making 
a pilgrimage in company with his family to the holy Grotto, 
believed it to be his sacred duty to bear public testimony to 
the truth of the miracle, and spread the knowledge of it 
amongst the people. He accordingly wrote a brief account 
of it to the UniverSy a Catholic journal ; and it appeared in 
its pages on the 28th, of June, 1871. It was copied by all 
the other religious journals, and was soon well known to 
every body. The skeptics, as was their custom, began to 
ridicule the cure obtained, as they said, by the use of fresh 
water, and did not at all examine the fact by calling to see 
the girl who had been restored to health, or by consulting 
the doctors who had attended her, or interrogating the wit- 
nesses. Mr. Artus reflected upon this mode of proceeding- 
followed by the skeptics, and his heart was grieved to think 
that so many readers, though the medium of the irreligious 
press, blindly believe their words, and imagine their asser- 
tions well founded, or at least uttered in good faith. Where - 
fore, he resolved to unmask them, and on the 23d day of 
July following, he sent a letter to the JJnivers, in which he 
challenged the Free-thinkers to prove the falsity of the wond- 
ers recorded by Henry Lasserre. And in order that the 
debate might not be too lengthy, he proposed that if they 
should select two facts he pointed out as a specimen, he 
would defend them, and wager 10,000 francs on their verity, 
or a larger sum if they so desired, declaring that in case he 
should be victorious, he would immediately hand over the 
amount to some work of charity. He imagined that none 
of the Free-thinkers would have spoken, but, on the contrary, 
he had the consolation of receiving a reply from a certain 
Cazeaux, under the assumed name of V. de Marcadeau di 



274 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Cauterets. Artus willingly responded, and more minutely 
fixed the terms and conditions of the challenge ; — they were 
these : 1st. To prove the falsity of at least two principal 
facts related by Lasserre, and by him ranked amongst the 
miraculous, — and he instanced seven examples: and 2d, to 
form an honorary tribunal of competent persons, whose 
honesty was notorious, whose fidelity was above suspicion, 
and whose decision was beyond appeal ; and that as soon as 
they had issued it, the notary with whom the money might 
have been deposited, should remit it immediately to the 
victor. The judges should be selected from the Institute, 
and from the most celebrated academies of France, or from 
amongst the lawyers. But the adversary declined the chal- 
lenge, heaping all manner of abuse on xlrtus. This gentle- 
man then published the whole matter in the papers, by 
means of which it was spread far and near. He renewed 
the challenge, and deposited with the notary, Turquet, the 
10,000 francs, and 5,000 francs more to defray the expenses 
incurred by the loser. He declaired he would leave the 
money in the notary's hands for two months. He waited 
nearly a year ; but finding that no one took up the chal- 
tenge, he published the whole matter in a pamphlet en- 
titled — Les miracles de N. D. de Lourdes, de/i public a la libre 
pense. Guerison de Juliette Fournier par JE. Artus, Paris 
Victor Palme, 1872. He sent a copy to all the Free-thinkers 
in France, and had it announced in all the religious jour- 
nals of Europe. He winds up in these words : 

M Since amongst all the witnesses, who have had these 
facts before their eyes ; since amongst all the philosophers 
who have shrugged their shoulders with contempt, whenever 
divine intervention in the case has been mentioned in their 
presence ; since amongst all the adversaries of the point at 
issue, not one has been found willing to pick up the gaunt- 
let ; since free-thinking has all at once become mute, and 
has refused to lay its purse on the table of the judges, aU 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. .275 

men of good faith to-day should hold for certain that the 
supernatural facts, which have transpired at Lourdes in our 
time and which have been recorded by Mr. Henry Lasserre, 
are beyond all question ; that the Most Holy Virgin has 
really appeared at Lourdes ; that at her word and beck 
divine, a fountain gushed forth beneath the hand of Berna- 
dette, and that ever since miraculous cures, whose certainty 
is confirmed by their very adversaries who dare not now 
dispute them, have continued to testify to every one who 
wishes to open his eyes and see the truth of Christianity, 
and the omnipotence of the God-Man whom we adore upon 
our altars. * * * And it is also demonstrated beyond all 
shadow of doubt that these Free-thinkers, when in their 
books, journals and speeches they deny and attack the 
miraculous, Catholicity, Jesus Christ, feign a certainty they 
feel not either in their conscience, mind, or heart. It is 
demonstrated that while they boldly pledge their word and 
honor as publicists and writers regarding these religious 
questions, and in their treatment of them hesitate not to 
trifle with the souls of the people and with the foundation 
of society, they dare not, with all their pretended certainty, 
although publicly challenged, venture a contest, nor a sin- 
gle dollar. This fact alone decides their position, and gives 
us the true measure of their good faith and worth," 

Having seen that no Free-thinker would accept his chal- 
lenge, Mr. Artus withdrew his money, but put in press two 
other little works — The Doctors and the Miracles of Lourdes, 
and The Miracles of Lourdes and the Press — in which he 
answers those who, not daring to accept his challenge, still 
dispute the miracles ; and states that he is ever ready to 
make a new deposit and repeat the challenge. Wherefore, 
you who question the facts of Lourdes, do you believe you 
are right? Advance, then. Accept the challenge. Write 
to Mr. Artus, in Paris, informing him of your readiness to 
enter the lists, and beside the honor you may win by the 



276 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

contest, you will also gain ten thousand francs, or more, if 
you feel disposed to wager it, for he will stake one hundred 
thousand francs on the issue. 

But you dare not accept the challenge ; and why ? * * * 
Ah ! put your hand to your conscience and call to mind 
that to impugn the known truth is a sin against the Holy 
Ghost, as our Lord Jesus Christ says in the Gospel : " He 
that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be for- 
given him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come ." 
(Math. xii. 32.) 

As for us, my dear reader, let us enter into ourselves, and 
by way of commending these poor, blind skeptics to the 
Lord, and as an immediate preparation for Holy Com- 
munion, let us make the following 

MEDITATION ON THE EXCELLENCE OF COMMUNION. 

I. Consider who it is that comes to us in the Holy Com- 
munion. It is Jesus Christ, the Son of God ; and with 
Him come the Father and the Holy Ghost. * * * The 
three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity. * * * God. That 
eternal God. * * * The Creator and Lord of Heaven and 
earth. * * * That Jesus who, for love of you, was born in 
a poor stable — lived in a humble cottage by the labor of 
His hands — passed through this world doing good and 
healing the sick, wished, by a series of stupendous miracles, 
to remain with us in the Eucharist, ... to suffer and to 
die. That Jesus who rose from the dead, ascended into 
Heaven, and is to come again to judge us. * * * How ex- 
cellent is the Holy Communion, in which Jesus comes to 
us! 

II. Consider who it is to whom God comes. To man — a 
heap of rottenness as regards the body, and as regards the 
soul, only a mere creature ... to man, who has so many 
times offended Him by sin . . .to man, so weak and 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 277 

miserable. * * * What condescension! What love ! What 
goodness ! 

III. Consider why this God comes to man. To be united 
to him. ... To keep him in His favor, and increase divine 
grace in his soul. , . . To reinvigorate him, and give him a 
taste for heavenly things. ... To remit his venial sins, and 
preserve him from mortal. * * * What happiness for the 
man who knows how to derive profit from the Holy Com- 
munion ! * * * Surely, as St. Paul says, " In all things you 
are made rich in Jesus Christ." * * * Do you believe all 
this ? Do you reflect on these truths when you go to Holy 
Communion ? Do you gather these fruits from approach- 
ing the Table of the Lord ? Why do you not gather them ? 
Correct the defects that sully your soul. 

Practice, — In these sentiments make a sacramental Com- 
munion. 

Ejaculation. — living bread from Heaven, most august 
Sacrament ! I adore you every instant. Immaculate Vir- 
gin Mary of Lourdes, assist me to make my Communion 
well. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Long Live the Madonna of Lourdes ! Feasts of July, 1876. 

" And the people rejoiced exceedingly, and they spent that day 
with great joy. And he ordained that this day should be kept every 
year." (1 Mach., vii. 48, 49.) 

"A glorious day for the sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes 
— a day exceptionally privileged/' wrote the Bishop of 
Tarbes, in whose diocese Lourdes is situated, in his pastoral 
of the 19th of March last, announcing the Feasts of the 
Consecration of the Basilica and the Coronation of the 
Statue of the Immaculate Conception. And indeed these 



278 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

festal days, namely, the 2d and the 3d of July, were < ; glori- 
ous days, days exceptionally privileged." 

The heavens themselves seemed to add to the beauty of 
the feasts, for the weather was magnificent. There were 
present over thirty-five Prelates, amongst whom were num- 
bered the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, Mons. Joseph 
Hyppolitus Guibert, the Pope's Nuncio, Mons. Francis 
Megla, Archbishop of Damascus, ten Archbishops, and 
twenty-three Bishops, mostly from France— nearly all of 
whom were able to take part in the ceremonies. The Canons, 
Pastors and the other Clergymen, secular and regular, 
numbered over three thousand. Besides, there were present 
one hundred thousand lay people of both sexes, and of every 
age, rank and condition from France, Spain, England, and 
Italy. But let us approach the holy places. 

What a grand sight met the pilgrim's eye on the 1st of 
July, 1876, as he got out at the railway station in Lourdes, 
and passed through that city with its houses all adorned 
with festoons of green, and then directing his steps along 
the way leading to the Grotto, and finally having got out- 
side the city limits, journeyed on amid the countless lines 
of tents enriched with objects of piety, and onward still 
across the bridge that spans the Gave, and then turned his 
eyes to the western horizon. 

The sky was clear and beautiful, and from his realms in 
the azure expanse the sun shed upon the scene the glad- 
some light of his golden rays. The lofty peaks of the moun- 
tains are seen in the distance. On the left the mountain 
called Calvary raises its head aloft, which is surmounted by 
a large cross ; and further down on the levelled summit of 
the rock of Massabielle are seen the towering campanile, 
and the beautiful white sanctuary with its two side stair- 
cases leading to the grand gateway, and between them the 
door of the crypt, and the piazza with its balustrade and 
staircase in course of construction, which will lead from the 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 279 

house of the missionaries up to the piazza of the Basilica, 
and all around and along the sides, and throughout the en- 
tire length of the many path-ways lofty polls hung with 
festoons and ancient French banners, some white and blue, 
the colors of the Immaculate Virgin— some white and yel- 
low, the colors of the Sovereign Pontiff ; and along the way 
leading to the church, to Calvary, and on the piazza and 
esplanade are assembled one hundred thousand persons ; 
and towards the light the Gave, which flows on dark and 
murmuring at the base of the hill, by whose flank rushes 
the locomotive pufling and whistling ; and further down 
the two magnificent monasteries of the Benedictines and 
the Carmelites directly facing the holy Grotto — and this 
whole panorama contemplated in thought. Behold the 
mountain of the Immaculate : behold the place eighteen 
times visited by the Virgin Mother of God : behold the site 
rich with spiritual and corporal wonders, that region of 
grace and benediction — oh ! all this made upon the mind 
of the pilgrim, an impression so dear, so sweet, so delicious 
as to imparadise him. 

But yet a greater happiness awaits him . Having on his 
right the platform, on which rises the altar, erected for the 
coronation of the statue of the Immaculate Virgin — then a 
round roof, open in the middle, within which are placed 
tables and benches for the refection of the pilgrims — after 
this a white tent, occupying three sides of a great rectangle, 
within which are erected sixteen altars, called the altars of 
the Esplanade of the Eosary, while the fourth side; one of 
the two larger, serves as a Communion rail for the faithful, 
and on the left a wall, which supports the Missionaries' 
dwelling, and bears an inscription telling of the ancient 
course of the mill-stream; then the two neat little cottages, 
containing separate rooms for supplying the sick of both 
sexes with the water of the holy fountain, he arrives, at last, 
at the true theatre of the miracles— the Holy Grotto. 



280 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

The mill-stream or canal, which used to wash the base of 
the Rock of Massabielle, was changed, and over it, as far as 
the Gave, has been constructed a beautiful mosaic pave- 
ment, bounded on the bank of the river by a parapet,which 
being flagged over, serves as a long stone bench to sit upon. 
A voice speaks to thy heart, saying : " Uncover thy head in 
reverence, for the ground thou touchest is holy." * * * 
The pilgrim willingly obeys, and proceeds onward until he 
arrives at the place which bears a tablet of stone, with this 
inscription: " Course of the ancient mill-stream ;" and two 
paces further down toward the river, another slab, in- 
scribed: " The place where Bernadette prayed on the 11th 
of February, 1858." O pilgrim ! turn your eyes in a south- 
erly direction, and fix them on the Rock of Massabielle, 
which now appears before you. The Church applies to 
Mary the words : " I have selected and sanctified this place 
that ray name may be there, etc.," — words exactly applica- 
ble to this place of benediction. He feels the name, the in- 
spiration of the Immaculate Mother of God. Kneel down 
and pray, devout pilgrim. Thank the most Holy Virgin for 
having conducted you thither in safety during your long 
journeying. Kiss the holy ground, and give free vent to 
your heart now teeming with a thousand affections. My 
God, what delight ! what joy ! what sweet impressions ! 

But arouse yourself, pious pilgrim. Listen to the merry 
chime announcing the commencement of the grand 
solemnity. Be present at these functions, the like of which 
you shall, perhaps, never see again. 

In fact, about five o'clock in the evening of that 1st of 
July, the feasts commenced. There were two festivities : 
one was the consecration of the Basilica, which took place 
on the 2d inst, and the other, the coronation of the statu e 
of the Immaculate Virgin, which was celebrated next day. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 281 

ARTICLE. I. 

Consecration of the Basilica of Lourdes* 

The reader is aware that from the most remote times, the 
Holy Catholic Church has been accustomed to bless her 
newly built temples, by the hand of a priest, who recites 
prayers, and sprinkles the walls of the sacred edifice with 
holy water. This is called the Dedication of the Church; 
or more simply, its Benediction. Such was the ceremony of 
which the church, or sanctuary of Lourdes, had been prev- 
iously the recipient. Although, through the benign con- 
cession of the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius IX., it had been raised, 
by virtue of his venerated Brief of the 13th of March, 1874, 
to the rank of a minor Basilica, which means that it was en- 
riched with certain privileges, as the use of particular 
sacred and distinctive ornaments inside its precincts and 
out; still it had been only blessed by a priest, and had not 
been yet consecrated. Beside this simple benediction, the 
Catholic Church has also the ceremony of Consecrating her 
temples and altars ; and this is performed by the Bishop 
with the unction of holy oil, and is, therefore, called Conse- 
cration. Such was the ceremony that took place in the 
Basilica of Lourdes on the 2d of July. 

The Sovereign Pontiff had granted extraordinary privileges 
on this occasion : 1st. That the Cardinal Archbishop of 
Paris would consecrate the Basilica in the name of His 
Holiness, and wear the pallium during the Pontifical Mass ; 
2d. That while His Eminence was consecrating the high 
altar, fifteen other Archbishops, or Bishops, would consecrate 
the fifteen minor altars ; 3d. That the water, cement, etc, 
to be used in the consecration of the Church, could be 
blessed on the vigil ; 4th. That the consecrating Cardinal 
would be assisted in the holy- water sprinklings by two, or 
four Archbishops, or Bishops, from amongst those who were 



282 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

to perform the consecration of the minor altars ; 5th. That 
the Papal benediction would be pronounced, and that the 
ceremonies would be under the direction of Mons. Cataldi, 
master of ceremonies to His Holiness. And further that holy 
Mass could be celebrated from midnight up to one o'clock p.m., 
and that many plenary indulgences could be obtained. 

It was in virtue of these extraordinary privileges that on 
Saturday, the 1st of July, about five o'clock in the evening, 
the grand procession of the Bishops, forming in line of march 
from the Episcopal residence, preceded by twelve young 
Arabs, who were conspicuous by reason of the whiteness of 
their national costumes, and defiling through the crowds of 
pilgrims, advanced towards the Basilica, where they were re- 
ceived by the Bishop and the Clergy of Tarbes. The Cardinal 
delegate and Papal representative was addressed in a few 
words of friendly greeting, to which his eminence replied in 
noble yet simple language, making his thankful acknowledg- 
ments for the reception tendered him, and entered the crypt. 
Then, the Pontifical briefs having been read, each Bishop 
affixed his seal to the reliquary to be enclosed in the altar 
about to be consecrated, and the Cardinal blessed the uten- 
sils to be employed in the consecration of the Church next 
day. The relics were then exposed for veneration in the 
Chapel of the Sacred Heart., one of the seven in the crypt, 
where the faithful prayed before them during the night. 

On the same evening immense crowds, after having heard 
a touching and solid instruction from Fr. Candeloup, d. C. 
d. G. explanatory of the grand functions to be performed in 
the morning, prayed and sang hymns until late at night. 
At midnight, Masses commenced simultaneously at the holy 
Grotto, in the crypt, on the church terrace, on the esplanade 
of the Rosary, and in the Bishops' residences. The number 
of Masses was forty-five at a time, celebrated on as many 
altars. 

At seven o'clock in the morning, beneath a brilliant sun, 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 288 

and amid the joyful pealing of the bells, the great proces- 
sion began to defile out to the Basilica. 

The Cross was in the foreground, followed by long lines 
of priests robed in surplices, and the foreign Canons in 
choral costume ; next followed four priests in red vest- 
ments, bearing the throne of the relics ; the Canons of 
Tarbes, in their sacred ornaments ; the dignitaries wearing- 
copes ; the Archbishops and Bishops who were to con- 
secrate the altars, robed in copes, bearing their pastoral 
staffs, and mitred, each having two assistants in choral 
costume, their clerics and standard-bearers. Next came 
two pontifical mace-bearers ; the Archbishops, who were to 
consecrate the church, with their assistants and clerics ; 
two other pontifical mace-bearers ; His Eminence the Car- 
dinal, with his ministers in white dalmatics, followed by 
his tail-bearer in surplice, and three chaplains in black 
cassock and mantelette; four standard-bearers in cope; the 
other Archbishops and Bishops in cope, bearing their pas- 
toral staffs and mitred, and having each two assistants; the 
Prothonotary Apostolic Prelates, the Private Chamberlains 
and the Chamberlains of Honor, the Chamberlains of the 
Cope and Sword (di cappa e spado), and the dignitaries of 
the Pontifical Guards. In a word, this is the Papal Court 
in its religious magnificence ; and the multitude aston- 
ished at such unusual pomp, bowed and knelt. 

Having entered the church, the door was closed, as is 
always done during the ceremony of consecration: the only 
parties admitted to the functions, and that because of their 
dignity, were the Duke and Duchess of Parma, the Duke 
of Nemours, and the Duke and Duchess d'Alencon. After 
the consecration Pontifical Mass was sung by the Arch- 
bishop of Auch, the Metropolitan, and at the Gospel, Mons. 
Mermillod, Bishop of Cinevra, ascended the pulpit, and 
delivered a magnificent homily on the occasion they had 
assembled to celebrate. 



284 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Meantime, Fr. Candeloup preached upon the banks of 
the Gave to a very great multitude. Solemn Mass was 
sung on the altar erected on the platform destined for the 
Coronation. Excellent music was rendered by the Artil- 
lery School of Tarbes, sent by General de Franchessin, 
who himself assisted at the feasts with many of his officials 
and a great number of soldiers. 

But the hours were passing. It was noon, and a glow T - 
ing sun was shedding his rays upon the valley. Never- 
theless, the people remained recollected. Penally, after six 
hoars' waiting, the long and magnificent cortege of Bishops 
and Clergy was seen slowly moving from the Basilica. 
The Prelates arranged themselves in their majesty around 
the Cardinal, who prepared in the name of the Holy Father 
to give the Papal Benediction . It was a solemn moment. 
The valleys and the hills, covered with people, reminded one 
of the magnificent piazza of St. Peter's at Rome ; for with 
the same faith and enthusiasm as there, did this immense 
crowd receive the Papal Benediction pronounced by the 
representative of Pius IX. 

Towards five o'clock the great procession of Bishops de- 
filed off towards the esplanade, notwithstanding the scorch- 
ing heat of the sun's rays. They gathered together on the 
platform around the altar, and then, after a magnificent 
discourse by Fr. Roux, a triumphant Magnificat was sung 
by one hundred thousand voices, and then Jesus, reposing 
in the Sacrament in the midst of the thousand splendors 
of the Ostensary of the Immaculate Conception, blessed 
the crowd, the valleys, and the whole horizon. 

As the shades of evening began to fall, another great 
feast commenced, or, to speak more accurately, the same 
feast was continued in a sweeter and more entrancing 
form. Father Koux still continued to fire with enthusiasm 
the thousands of pilgrims by reason of the fervid discourse 
delivered to them in front of the sacred Grotto — a dis- 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 285 

course which made the hearts of all throb with love for 
Mary Immaculate and for the Sovereign Pontiff, as a 
thousand shouts of applause testified. The canticles and 
prayers were again commenced. 

But a new day dawned with the night upon the happy 
valley. The Basilica seemed to blaze like the heavenly 
Jerusalem. Cordons of fire admirably defined the archi- 
tectural lines of the front of the church The illumina- 
tions, like a current of electricity, soon lit up the entire 
valley. The Benedictine monastery displayed its illumi- 
nated Ostensary, while a star blazed in front of the Car- 
melite convent. All the public buildings, all the private 
houses, shone like one great fire throughout the length 
and breadth of the city of Lourdes. 

At the same time fifty thousand pilgrims lit their torches 
and commenced their countless processions. This stream 
of stars flowed on from the Grotto, ascended the mountain, 
encircled the Basilica with a crown of love, descended in 
majesty towards the esplanade, where it expanded its im- 
mense waves like a sea. Meanw r hile an ocean of voices 
chanted the joyful tones of the Ave Maria, the supplicatory 
accents of the Litany, and gladsome popular canticles. 

Suddenly the detonation of explosives is heard upon the 
mountain, fiery serpents ascend toward the skies, and curv- 
ing gracefully over the Basilica, shower clown upon it a 
million stars, that sparkle with all the colors of the rain- 
bow. It seemed as if the heavens had poured out all its 
splendors upon the consecrated chapel. The Basilica 
itself is now ablaze. Powerful vari-colored fireworks in 
succession, shed upon it the sweetest and most enchanting 
tints, amid which the cordons of the illuminations glistened 
like precious diamonds. It w T as the feast of the Basilica — 
the feast, too, of the Immaculate Conception. The moun- 
tain is lit up from base to apex, and upon this new Thabor 
is read from afar, in huge flaming letters, the inscription : 



286 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Long Live Our Lady of Lourdes. Globes, azure-colored 
and white, suspended upon the right and upon the left, 
cross each other, and form a triumphal arch over Our Lady 
of Lourdes And when this enchanting spectacle had been 
long enough gazed upon with admiration and applause, the 
mountain boomed like a volcano, and flung into the air a 
last grand bouquet, in which fires, stars, globes and thun- 
ders blended together as the closing glory of this never-to- 
be-forgotten day. 

Nevertheless, the prayers and hymns continued at the 
Grotto . 



ARTICLE II. 

The Coronation. 

Even amongst the pagans of old it was customary to 
crown the images and statues of their false divinities with 
the verdant ivy, branches of laurel, and betimes with pre- 
cious metals. The Catholic Church has turned this prac- 
tice to good, and so from the most remote period it has 
been her wont to place crowns of gold or silver upon sacred 
images. She has established a solemn rite, to be observed 
during the ceremony of coronation, which continues unto 
our own day. However, the coronation of images and 
statues is now a days commonly confined to those of the 
Blessed Virgin Mary and of her Divine Son, and the cere- 
mony is performed either immediately by the Sovereign 
Pontiff, or by the Chapter of St. Peter's on the Vatican, for 
which purpose, in the year 1637, a considerable legacy was 
bequeathed by Count Alessandro Sforza di Piacenza, with 
the obligation of crowning the most renowned images of 
Most Holy Mary. In either case, the coronation of a statue 
or image is one of the grandest feasts celebrated by the 
Catholic Church. The temple has to be adorned for the 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 287 

festival ; the image to be crowned is, if possible, to be car- 
ried in procession beneath a canopy to the high altar ; a 
solemn Mass is to be celebrated ; discourses suitable to the 
occasion are to be delivered — in a word, the greatest joy is 
to be manifested in every possible manner. 

The coronation of the statue of the Immaculate Virgin 
Mary of Lourdes was approved by the Sovereign Pontiff, 
who, although it was a new concession, vouchsafed to grant 
permission to Mons. F. Meglia, Archbishop of Damascus, 
and Nuncio Apostolic at Paris, to perform the august rite 
in his name, which he did on the 3d of July, in presence 
of the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, and of thirty-three 
Archbishops and Bishops. 

On that day, however, at midnight, forty-five Masses 
commenced simultaneously, and Communion was dispensed 
in various places. At nine o'clock, the immense multitude 
filled the valley of the Gave, covered the neighboring 
slope,?, and hung suspended from the summits of the cliffs. 
The grand procession of Bishops moved majestic from the 
sanctuary toward the esplanade. There on the grand altar 
erected on the platform, a solemn pontifical Mass was cele- 
brated by the Apostolic Nuncio in presence of the Cardinal, 
the Bishops, and the immense multitude. The singing, sup- 
ported by the sweet harmony of the band of Lourdes, is- 
sued from a thousand lips and a thousand hearts; and this 
vast assemblage remained five hours after in recollection 
and prayer. It is stated that about fifty strangers came 
from a manufacturing city for the purpose of hissing. Let 
it be ours to believe that each one found at Lourdes a foun- 
tain of salutary tears. 

After the Gospel, Mons. Pie, Bishop of Poitiers, ascended 
the pulpit, and in a magnificent homily, portrayed the 
glories of Our Lady of Lourdes, peremptorily confirmed 
the apparitions, and demonstrated their wonderful fecun- 
dity in spiritual blessings. It may be said that this was 



288 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

the last word uttered on the glorious history of Our Lady 
of Lourdes. Light has shone out; denial is no longer pos- 
sible, for Hilary, the oracle of France, has spoken. 

But the solemn moment has arrived. At the termination 
of the Pontifical Mass, the crown was carried into the midst 
of the assembly of Bishops. The Apostolic Nuncio, dele- 
gated by the Holy Father, blessed in the name of His Holi- 
ness, this new diadem, destined to adorn the brow of the 
Immaculate Yirgin. Then he slowly ascended the long 
flight of stairs leading to the gilded niche above the altar, 
in which smiled a sweet image of Our Lady of Lourdes. 
In deep emotion the Prelate approached and placed the 
blessed diadem on the head of the Queen of Heaven. After 
a moment of ineffable silence, the hearts of the multitudes 
burst suddenly into tears, which were followed by exclama- 
tions, rounds of applause, and hymns of triumph, the Regina 
cceli Icetare attelujah, etc. The weeping, shouting and ap- 
plause again commenced, and more than once did they 
drown in echoes the hymns and the flourish of trumpets, 
while the Bishops came in turn to offer incense to the 
crowned Queen. The Mons. Bishop of Tarbes then thanked 
the princes of the Church, who had come to render the 
celebrations more imposing by their august presence. The 
Apostolic Nuncio gave the Papal Benediction, and the pro- 
cession defiled off to the sanctuary, where he also crowned 
the statue reposing on the high altar above the tabernacle, 
in which dw r ells He who eternally crowns His Mother amid 
the splendors of the saints. The immense crowd followed 
the Bishops to the Episcopal residence, where for the last 
time they received their solemn benedictions. 

All was finished, but yet it may be stated that anew feast 
had commenced, the grand Octave, which was preached 
upon the esplanade by Father Hubin. On Monday even- 
ing, the immense torch-light processions were again re- 
sumed; their line of march was around the Basilica, which 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 289 

was again illuminated. All was not finished. Nay, it 
seems that a new era had commenced for the Madonna of 
Lourdes, now better known and better loved; now, more 
than ever, the Queen and the Mother of Hearts. What 
springs from Heaven and love knows no end; and that de- 
votion, which has inspired the institution of these grand 
festivals, shall be for ever crowned and consecrated in the 
glorious Basilica of the Eternal Love. 



ARTICLE III. 

The Crown and the Ostensary of the Immaculate Conception of 

Lourdes. The Collision at Ygos. The Golden Palm sent 

by the Holy Father, Pius IX. 

We cannot terminate this chapter without speaking of 
some of the circumstances that attended and followed the 
solemn coronation of the statue of the Immaculate Virgin 
Mary of Lourdes. 

We have already said that there were present 35 
Bishops, 3,000 Priests, and 100,000 of the laity, amongst 
whom were the Duke and Duchess of Parma, the Duke of 
Nemours and daughter, the Princess Bianca d' Orleans, the 
Duke and Duchess d'Alengon, and a nephew of Garcia 
Moreno, the lamented President of the Bepublic of Ecua- 
dor. Twelve hundred hosts had been prepared for the 
celebration of the Masses, and one hundred thousand par- 
ticles for the Communion of the faithful, which, having 
been all consumed, it was calculated that there were a 
great many more of the laity present on that day. 

The crown offered to Mary by the piety of the faithful is 
of pure gold set with diamonds. From the circle, formed 
like a garland of roses, shoot up mystic lillies studded with 
stars. This is the work of the brothers Mellerio, most re- 
nowned Piedmontese jewelers living in Paris. 



290 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

But the chef-d'oeuvre offered to the Madonna of Lourdes 
by the generosity of one pilgrim, whose name we are sorry 
we cannot give, and which shall remain a lasting monument 
of this feast, is the celebrated Ostensary, the work of M. 
Armand Calliat de Lyon. It would be a futile effort to en- 
deavor to describe it, as all who have seen it unanimously 
assert. To form an idea of its magnificence we must call to 
mind that on it are sixty-three figures in bass-relief, four 
eagles and sixteen columns, the statues of the Holy Virgin 
and St. Joseph, and thirty-two medallions, and on the back 
of the lunette a hundred figures chiseled, or enameled. It 
is bedecked with over one thousand diamonds, fourteen 
liundred precious stones, topazes, rabies, amethysts, etc., 
twenty-two stars of brilliants surrounding the Gloria, twelve 
other stars of small brilliants, which form the aureola of the 
Virgin, and thirty-two sparkling lilies in the corona of the 
Rosary accompanying it. In fine, above the Ostensary is a 
figure of the holy Grotto of Massabielle with a statue of the 
Virgin which stands out conspicuous upon a base of topazes 
in low relief, of a pale pink color. Suffice it to say that M. 
Calliat had engaged upon it thirty-six of his best mechanics 
for more than four years. 

This Ostensary was used for the first time at the feast of 
the coronation. 

Special and extraordinary graces were not wanting in 
those days. One of the principal is the visible protection 
of heaven accorded to the pilgrimage of Niort at the time 
of the terrible collision of the trains near the city of Ygos. 

Niort is a city of over twenty thousand inhabitants, and 
the capital of the department called des deux Sevres. Over 
seven hundred of its inhabitants started on Saturday night 
in order to reach Lourdes on Sunday, the 2d of July. Hav- 
ing passed the station of Morcenx, they were approaching 
Ygos, when at half-past one after midnight the collision, of 
which we speak, occurred. But let us hear the fact as de- 
scribed by Father Briant, director of the pilgrimage. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 291 

" To the joyful sound of hymns and prayers, which had, 
during the day, changed our carriages into so many moving 
oratories ? succeeded the calm and the recollection of night, 
and the seven hundred pilgrims from Niort were endeavor- 
ing by repose to prepare themselves for future fatigue. Our 
cars had to stop at the Ygos station in order to let the ex- 
press train of Mont-de-Marsan pass, which at that moment 
was rushing full steam from the other side of the station 
upon Morcenx. 

We had passed the curve described by the rails at the en- 
trance to Ygos, and had just arrived at the first signal 
light, which was extinguished. Surprised at this negligence 
of the station master, the engineer and conductor com- 
menced to communicate their fears to each other, when 
suddenly, at five hundred metres distant, they descry the 
express train in front of them, which the curve had up to 
this hidden from their view, and which was bearing down 
upon them with a velocity of sixty chilometres an hour. 
What was to be done ? The danger was imminent, and the 
collision inevitable : the risk could not be avoided : nothing 
could be done except to lessen the effects of the terrible 
catastrophe. With a coolness and presence of mind above 
all eulogy as well as recompense, the engineer, at a glance, 
took in the situation. To stop his progress, put on the 
breaks, and let off all his steam in lusty echoes in order to 
impress upon the down train a retrograde movement — all 
this was done with the rapidity of thought ; meantime, the 
conductor leaped upon the track and ran, lantern in hand, 
towards the express train to warn the engineer of the im- 
pending danger ; but by some fatal circumstance these 
signals were not perceived, because the engineer and fire- 
man were at that moment attending to the furnace, and 
consequently saw and understood nothing. In a moment our 
carriages receive a tremendous shock ; .the two engines had 
struck. From all the compartments, a shout of horror 



292 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

echoes simultaneously through the gloom. Two other shocks 
still more terrible, follow. The carriages creak, and are 
well-nigh shattered ; the lights go out ; the pilgrims are 
hurled one upon the other ; the shadow of death reigns 
supreme over this scene of horror. 

" Soon silence was established — but it was the silence of 
anguish and despair. 

" ' What has happened ?' is asked all around . 

" ' A collision ; but all is over and we are safe.' 

" ' Is it so ? But there must have been serious mishaps — 
some persons must have been killed.' 

" ' With what anxiety and terror they wait for the news I 
Soon consoling tidings pass through the various carriages 
like a lamp of joy. The feelings of emotion with which all 
hearts had been oppressed are now calmed : the conductor 
had rushed about, and having ascertained the results re- 
turned, harbinger of gladness, to tranquilize his passen- 
gers. 

" Not a single person had been seriously injured ! 

" Each person alights from his carriage, wishing to see 
for himself the true state of things. What a spectacle pre- 
sents itself to their gaze ! The front of the locomotive is 
very much damaged ; the pistons are broken in pieces, but 
the fireman and engine driver have not suffered a con- 
tusion ; the controller w r ho was in the wagon, had been 
hurled from one extremity to the other, but the only injury 
he sustained was a slight pain in the knee. The first-class 
carnage, which was behind the magazine wagon, was com- 
pletely wrecked ; by the violence of the shock the two seats 
in the first compartment were forced into close proximity, 
and the eight pilgrims within should have had their limbs 
crushed. Nothing of the kind ! Not even a scratch I 
Throughout the rest of the train four persons only, among 
whom was Father Briant, director of the pilgrimage, had 
suffered slight contusions of the face. 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 293 

" The miracle was evident to all, and a fervent prayer 
was thankfully poured forth from every heart." 

" Soon the director of the southern train arrived at Ygos, 
and congratulating us asserted that only a miracle could 
have saved us." Despite the energy and prudence of our 
engineer, ' said he/ we should have had many victims in 
that unfortunate collision ; and had it occurred hvo minutes 
previously in the middle of the curve described by the 
track, where there was a heap of stones, the catastrophe 
would have been lamentable ? 

" On our return the commissary of one of the principal 
southern stations said to the director of the pilgrimage : 
' I congratulate you on your having escaped such a serious 
calamity ; since the invention of the locomotive, a similar 
escape has not been known, nor it is possible to have a 
repetition of it under the same circumstances. You should 
have been all crushed to pieces ! * * * Ah ! you speak much 
about the miracles of Lourdes — well ! believe me there 
never has been a miracle so astounding as this ; and the 
protection accorded you the other night, is for me the most 
certain of all the miracles." ? 

How the Immaculate Virgin of Lourdes protects her 
children and devoted pilgrims ! 

Besides this, many other extraordinary favors were bes- 
towed in these days. As for example the following : — 
Maria Colle, of Lyons, a poor woman of about fifty-live 
years of age, had been suffering from paralysis of the right 
side from April, 1862, which prevented her from walking 
unaided by crutches. Her great faith impelled her to 
wash, on Sunday, the 2d of July, in the bath of the water 
of Lourdes, on leaving which she found she was healed. 
The writer of this book saw her, and spoke with her, a few 
moments after the extraordinary cure * ■ * Poor 
woman ! She smiled and wept for consolation, exclaiming 
from the very depths of her heart :— " Thanks be to you, 



294 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

Holy Virgin of Lourdes! • • • It is not my prayers 
that have cured me ; it is the Most Holy Virgin has re- 
stored me to health ; she alone has rendered me capable 
of walking before her." 

On her return to Lyons, she ascended with the pilgrims, 
to the sanctuary of Our Lady of Fourviere, without using 
her crutches. She no longer felt any of the pains that 
had previously so much harrassed her. 

On the 4th of July following, a certain Magdalene Lan- 
cereau of Poitiers, was also cured in the same extraordin- 
ary manner; so also were many others restored to health; — 
but we omit to mention them, as the ecclesiastical authority 
has not yet examined the facts. In fine the concourse of 
pilgrims to Lourdes, from all parts of the world, is ever in- 
creasing. In the space of one month (from the 30th of 
August to the 30th of September last) fifty thousand Com- 
munions have been made, and six thousand Masses cele- 
brated. The Immaculate Virgin responds to so much love 
with still more numerous prodigies. In twelve days, say 
the Annals of Lourdes of the 30th September last, we have 
counted here seven wonderful cures. Doubtless, the Angels 
have proclaimed a thousand spiritual resurrections. The 
Immaculate Conception of Lourdes triumphs indeed, as 
the Holy Father, Pius IX., says in his address accompany- 
ing his presentation of the golden palm, with which we 
are happy to bring our book to a close. 

Mons. Laurence, Bishop of Tarbes, although having, by 
his pastoral of the 18th of January, 1862, decided that the 
apparitions of the Grotto were true and supernatural, and 
having approved of the worship of the Immaculate Virgin 
of Lourdes, still said — " We humbly submit our judg- 
ment to the judgment of the Sovereign Pontiff, who- 
is charged with the government of the universal Church." 
Well then, the Sovereign Pontiff not only did not disap- 
prove of the decision of the Bishop of Tarbes, but even 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 295 

approved of it— if not formally and solemnly, certainly, in 
many ways, implicitly and clearly, as we have already 
stated in these pages. Finally, he wished to attach, as it 
were, his seal to these his approbations by sending as a 
gift to the Immaculate Virgin of Lourdes a magnificent, 
precious palm of massive gold, weighing about five pounds, 
adorned with enamels and precious stones, and surmounted 
by the tiara and the keys of St. Peter with the Papal arms. 
It is composed of two branches, — the Martyr's and the 
Confessor's palm united together by a gold garland bear- 
ing the inscription : 

Piae Maioricenses Pio IX. 
Martyri et Confessori. 

Having heard in the month of August last that a second 
Italian pilgrimage to Lourdes was being organized, the 
Holy Father consigned the palm to Cavalier Tolli, presi- 
dent and organiser of the pilgrimage, in order that he 
might place it in the hands of Mons. Folicaldi, Archbishop 
of Amata, and Canon of St. Peter's on the Vatican, director 
of said pilgrimage, whose duty it would be to have it laid 
upon the altar at the feet of Our Lady of Lourdes. When 
making this consignment, the Sovereign Pontiff made use 
of these words : Here is this palm : It is the symbol of victory. 
Remember then to present it to Mary, because she is triumph- 
ant in all adversities. 

Happy of its charge, the second Italian pilgrimage pre- 
sented it through the hands of Mons. Jourdan, now Bishop 
of Tarbes, upon the high altar of the Basilica of Lourdes, 
at the feet of the statue of Mary Immaculate, which was 
crowned upon the 3d of last September, in presence of an 
immense multitude who had assembled to celebrate the 
solemn festival. 

What a sublime thought ! To Mary Immaculate is due 
the palm— the symbol of victory —because she is triumphant 
in all adversities ! ! ! " To give expression to the senti- 



296 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

ments of the great Pius IX.," said Mons. Folicaldi, when 
offering the palm to Immaculate Mary of Lourdes, " it 
would be necessary to ha^e the gift of language which God 
has communicated in so eminent a degree to the Sovereign 
Pontiff. 

" To Mary is due the palm, because from the very first 
instant of her Immaculate Conception, she has triumphed 
over the infernal serpent. To Mary is due the palm, be- 
cause she is that peerless woman promised by God from 
the beginning of the world; because she is the Star of 
Jacob; because all generations have called her blessed; be- 
cause she has been the companion of Jesus throughout the 
different stages of His dolerous Passion, and amid all His 
triumphs. Mary has been victorious in all the adversities of 
the Church; hers is the palm of triumph 

" Cast then, O Mary, one look of pity upon the devotion 
and the love of Pius IX. ; upon his meekness under tribu- 
lations. * * * Console our Sovereign Pontiff; console the 
universal Church. Have pity on our dear country, Italy, 
from which the gift of faith, its most precious treasure, 
would fain be taken away. * * * * Hasten the hour of 
triumph, you who at the marriage feast of Cana hastened 
the hour for the public manifestation of the power of your 
Divine Son. With confidence, therefore, do we place at 
your most sacred feet the palm of victory. Pius IX., your 
devoted son, and our Supreme Pastor, se'nds it to you, be- 
cause you are victorious over all adversities. " 

Yes, conclude we, to the Immaculate Mary of Lourdes is 
due the palm, because she has triumphed over all the op- 
positions, uncertainties and the malice of man. 

Therefore, long live the Madonna of Lourdes, who has 
been victorious over all adversities. 



THE EJ*D. 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Dedication ^ 

To the Benevolent Reader i Vj 

Translation Preface v. 



PART FIRST. 

THE HISTORY OF THE WORK OF GOD AT 'LOURDES. 

Chapter L — A Sketch of the History and Topography of 

Lourdes 7 

Meditation. --An Invitation to praise Mary Im- 
maculate 12 

II.— The Hidden Pearl 14 

Meditation. — The Difference between the Judg- 
ment of God and that of Man 17 

" III.— The Dove in the Clefts of the Rock 19 

Meditation. — Of the Sign of the Cross 28 

" IV. — The Exorcism, or the Second Apparition . .. 30 

Meditation.— Of Holy Water 34 

" Y. — Mary Invites us to Lourdes ; or the Third Ap- 
parition 37 

Meditation.— Of True Religion 42 

<< VI.— Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Apparitions; or the True 

Mother.... ±± 

Meditation.— Mary Transfixed with Dolors in the 

Middle of the Nineteenth Century 48 



300 INDEX. 

PAGE. 

Chaptek V.— A Sketch of the Miracles of Lourdes 204 

Meditation.— On Confidence in Mary 234 

" VI.— The Wished-for Decision.... 235 

Meditation. — On Mary, our Joy 244 

" VII. — The Holy Chapel. 245 

Meditation. — On Mary's Sanctuaries 249 

" VIII. — The Pilgrimages and Processions to Lourdes. . . . 250 

Meditation. — On the Public Worship of Mary 259 

" IX. — To Pray for Sinners and to do Penance 260 

Meditation. — Attentively read over again the same 

chapter 266 

X. — A Palpable Proof of the Truth of the Apparitions 

of Lourdes, or M. Henry Lasserre 267 

Meditation. — On Preparation for Holy Com- 
munion 271 

" XL— Ten Thousand Livres to Gain 272 

Meditation. — On the Excellence of Communion 276 

*' XII. — Long Live the Madonna of Lourdes ! The Feasts 
of July, 1876. Art. 1. Consecration of the 
Basilica of Lourdes. Art. II. The Coronation. 
Art. III. The Crown and the Ostensary of the 
Immaculate Conception of Lourdes. — The 
Collision at Ygcs. — The Golden Palm of the 
Holy Father, Pius IX 277 



